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EARTH 

SCIENCES 

LIBRARY 


THE  DIAMOND 


A  PRINCE  OF  INDIA 


THE    DIAMOND 


BY 

W.  R.  CATTELLE 

AUTHOR  OF   "PRECIOUS  STONES,       "THE  PEARL,"  ETC. 


JOHN  LANE,  THE  BODLEY  HEAD 

LONDON,  MCMXI      f  «J  |  f 
JOHN  LANE  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK 


TI  PREFACE 

These  pages  have  been  written  in  pursuance  of  a  reso- 
lution formed  some  years  ago,  to  bequeath  to  the  jewelry 
trade  and  the  public,  a  comprehensive  and  intelligible 
digest  of  the  information  extant  about  precious  stones. 
As  nearly  as  a  commercial  acquaintance  of  some  years 
and  much  patient  investigation  would  enable,  misin- 
formation founded  on  ancient  errors,  and  misstate- 
ments  of  fact,  have  been  discarded  or  labeled,  and  in 
the  realm  of  science,  the  conclusions  in  which  persons 
of  undoubted  reputation  agree,  are  given  as  authorita- 
tive. To  the  diamond  alone,  as  the  most  generally 
known  and  admired  among  the  permanent  things  of 
beauty  which  Nature  has  provided  for  man,  this  volume 
is  devoted,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  prove  useful  alike  to 
those  who  traffic  in  it,  or  study  and  enjoy  it. 

In  the  conviction  that  Nature's  method  of  crystalliz- 
ing carbon  will  eventually  be  discovered,  accounts  of  the 
various  experiments  made,  and  hints  for  future  experi- 
menters are  included. 

W.  R.  C. 


252267 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    THE  DIAMOND g 

II    DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY .     .    24 

III  THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE 41 

IV  CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS 62 

V    CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  —  CONTINUED 82 

VI    INHERENT  QUALITIES  OF  THE  DIAMOND  AND  DIAMOND 

CUTTING 109 

VII    COLOR  AND  FLAWS 134 

VIII    THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA 159 

IX    DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL 177 

X    DIAMOND  MINING  IN  AUSTRALIA,  CHINA,  GUIANA,  RUS- 
SIA, AND  THE  UNITED  STATES,  AND  DIAMONDS  FOUND 

IN  METEORITES 206 

XI    THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA 227 

XII    DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA  —  CONTINUED    .     .  253 
XIII    PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  DIAMOND  MINES  ....  281 
•  XIV    DIAMONDS  FOR  MECHANICAL  PURPOSES,  ARTIFICIAL  DIA- 
MONDS AND  DIAMOND  WEIGHTS 315 

XV    How  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS 339 

XVI    ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND 359 

XVII    THE  PLACE  OF  DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE 39° 

XVIII    AN  EXPENSIVE  FARCE 414 

DIGEST 422 

GLOSSARY 424 

INDEX , 429 

DIAGRAM   PLATES  435 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  PRINCE  OF  INDIA FRONTISPIECE 

MADAME  CAVALIERI  (Courtesy  of  Aime  Dupont)  PAGE    23 

A  PRINCE  OF  INDIA "      40 

THE  MARCHIONESS  OF  LONDONDERRY "      61 

THE  CULLINAN  (Courtesy  of  The  African  World)     .     .  "      81 

THE  PRINCE  EDWARD  OF  YORK  DIAMOND  ;  6o*4  CARATS    .  "     108 

ROUGH  DIAMONDS "133 

DE  BEERS  CONVICTS  SORTING "     158 

MINING  FOR  DIAMONDS  IN  BRAZIL "     176 

DIAMOND  CRYSTAL  IN  KIMBERLITE "     205 

KIMBERLEY  MINE.    EARLY  DAYS "     226 

WASHING  GEAR,  KIMBERLEY.    EARLY  DAYS "     252 

KIMBERLEY  MINE.    PRESENT  DAY "290 

DE  BEERS  FLOOR.    BOYS  BREAKING  BLUE *  "3*4 

SORTING  GRAVEL  FOR  DIAMONDS 338 

WASHING  GEAR,  KIMBERLEY 358 

PLATES,  CELEBRATED  STONES,  CUTTING,  CRYSTALS    ...  "     435 


THE  DIAMOND 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   DIAMOND 

many  of  her  beauties,  Nature  gives  us  glimpses 
only.  As  swaying  gossamer  momentarily  reveals 
and  hides  the  charms  of  a  dancing  fairy,  so  the  quick 
flashes  of  brilliancy  and  color,  the  changes  of  tone  and 
atmosphere,  the  drifts  of  song  and  sighing,  and  the 
varying  perfume  of  moods,  flit  about  us,  in  the  restless 
movements  with  which  our  mother  plays  hide  and  seek 
with  her  children.  Light  and  shadow  flitting  over 
waters,  the  interweaving  chords  of  harmonious  and  ex- 
quisite color  with  which  the  sun  comes  and  goes,  the 
whisperings  of  the  wind,  the  ripple  and  rustle  of  billow- 
ing fields  and  meadows,  the  mists  of  the  morning,  all 
become  memories  as  the  sight  and  sound  of  them  sink 
from  eye  and  ear  to  heart.  Even  the  glories  of  her 
seasons  endure  not;  the  flowers  fade,  the  green  of  the 
field  withers,  the  fruit  falls,  and  the  dazzle  and  glitter 
of  snow  and  ice  soon  melt  from  the  light  which  glorified 
them. 

There  are  things  in  Nature,  however,  which  hold  their 
beauty  unscathed  by  blasting  storm,  or  withering  heat, 
or  the  changing  seasons.  These  in  their  proud  suprem- 

9 


.  DIAMOND 

acy  defy  time.  Among  them  are  "precious  stones." 
Ethereal  though  it  seems  as  a  white  cloud  in  a  sunny  sky, 
or  mist  beads  on  the  leaves  at  early  morning,  the  pearl 
recks  not  of  rising  or  setting  suns.  The  emerald  remains 
green  when  the  grass  burns,  and  it  lies  vivid  yet  in  the 
frozen  heart  of  winter.  The  diamond  sparkles  and 
flashes  whenever  and  wherever  the  light  finds  it,  while 
the  generations  which  successively  enjoyed  its  beauty, 
fade  and  are  forgotten. 

Combined  with  the  qualities  that  withstand  the  destruc- 
tions of  time,  precious  stones  possess  others  which 
prevent  the  weariness  of  monotony  growing  usually  out 
of  changeless  existence.  These  make  them  as  captivat- 
ing to  the  senses  when  the  eye  dims  with  age  as  when 
they  first  attracted  it  in  eager  youth.  To  the  sun,  "  soul 
of  surrounding  worlds,"  year  after  year  and  age  after 
age,  they  respond  like  the  stars.  "  The  ruby  lights  its 
deepening  glow,  and  with  a  waving  radiance  inward 
flames."  From  it  forever  "  the  sapphire,  solid  ether, 
takes  its  hue  cerulean "  and  all  combined,  its  beams 
"  thick  through  the  whitening  opal  play."  By  the  play 
of  light  and  color,  precious  stones  coquette  as  capri- 
ciously after  a  thousand  years  as  in  the  beginning,  and 
keep  ardor  burning  by  a  constant  revelation  of  new 
tones  of  beauty  and  a  tantalizing  but  delicious  expec- 
tancy of  more.  In  shadow,  mysteries  of  romance  and 
tragedy  slumber  in  the  blood-red  of  the  ruby,  but  sun- 
light wakes  fires  in  it,  ardent  and  changeful  as  the  glances 
of  love.  We  say  the  color  of  the  ruby  is  red,  and  of 
the  emerald,  green,  and  of  the  sapphire,  blue,  but  as  they 
move  in  the  light,  or  quiescent,  the  light  rays  pass  over 
them,  a  thousand  tones  of  color  in  harmonious  chords 


THE  DIAMOND  n 

emanate  from  the  flashing  facets,  and  the  eye  watches, 
as  the  ear  listens  when  a  master  hand  wanders  over  the 
keys  of  music. 

Unseeing  eyes  sometimes  hold  in  contempt  those  for 
whom  these  precious  things  of  beauty  have  a  charm. 
To  them,  the  fascination  which  these  "  baubles "  ex- 
ercise, is  no  hint  that  they  are  wonderful  and  worthy; 
they  regard  it  only  as  a  sign  that  the  fascinated  are 
weak.  The  sense  which  caused  that  prince  of  orators 
and  thinkers,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  to  carry  a  beauti- 
ful stone  about  in  his  pocket,  that  he  might  at  will  take 
it  out  and  feast  his  eyes  upon  it,  or  that  leads  many 
men  noted  in  the  fields  of  government,  finance,  industry 
and  war  even,  to  buy  them  at  great  prices,  not  to  show 
upon  their  persons,  but  to  cherish  for  themselves  and 
their  familiars  in  private  collections,  is  beyond  them. 
The  appreciation  of  precious  stones  marks  the  rise  of 
the  individual  from  grubbing  to  a  broader  outlook;  of 
a  nation,  from  the  hard  struggle  for  existence,  to  the 
plane  of  acquirement. 

Among  these  beautiful  creations,  the  diamond,  for 
several  reasons  is  pre-eminent.  The  hardest,  it  more 
successfully  resists  the  abrasions  of  time,  and  by  the 
same  quality  is  capable  of  holding  for  our  delectation 
more  of  the  fugitive  phenomena  of  that  most  blessed 
source  of  human  comfort,  light.  No  other  has  such 
universal  fascination.  In  all  ages  and  nations  it  has 
been  esteemed  most  highly,  and  now  that  all  its  daz- 
zling beauty  has  been  discovered,  though  the  ruby  may 
be  more  precious  to  a  few  lords  of  the  Orient,  and  else- 
where, and  if  the  pearl  be  the  jewel  of  refinement  every- 
where, the  diamond  is  nevertheless  by  far  the  most  gen- 


12  THE  DIAMOND 

eral  favorite.  Its  enduring  and  unassailable  purity,  and 
the  blazing  splendor  of  its  reflective  and  dispersive 
powers,  are  universally  attractive,  and  to  these  the  mag- 
nificence of  exalted  and  ancient  associations  add  a  glam- 
our which  predisposes  the  beholder  to  yield  to  it  royal 
honors. 

In  these  days  of  abundance,  when  the  young  woman 
who  earns  her  living  would  regard  the  linen  of  ancient 
queens  as  too  coarse  for  ordinary  wear,  and  the  "  fine  rai- 
ment "  of  the  Bible  would  be  regarded  with  derision; 
when  the  sons  and  daughters  of  labor  bedeck  themselves 
with  jewels  reserved  by  the  imperial  edict  of  Rome  for 
patricians,  and  the  only  reservation  which  guards  them 
is  the  price,  it  is  difficult  to  fully  realize  the  feeling  with 
which  people  in  the  old  times  looked  from  afar  upon  the 
effulgence  of  the  diamond,  or  to  awaken  the  imagina- 
tions which  then  clustered  about  the  name. 

In  those  old  days  the  diamond  was  the  associate  of 
might.  Where  it  shone,  lay  the  power  to  kill  or  make 
rich.  Men  trembled  at  the  frowns  of  one  who  wore 
diamonds,  for  they  were  a  sign  that  he  was  the  lord  of 
men.  To  the  onlooker  there  was  mystery  in  the  light 
that  shot  from  under  the  rough  skins  of  the  curious 
stones.  Baubles  they  were,  but  fiercer  than  the  tem- 
pered blades  of  the  princely  swords  whose  hilts  held 
them.  Things  of  beauty  to  lie  in  the  soft  folds  of  silken 
tunic  and  turban,  yet  harder  than  the  grim  rocks  where 
their  princely  owners  perched  their  fortresses.  Flint, 
nor  steel,  nor  any  other  thing  could  mar  their  glisten- 
ing faces,  for  in  the  grind  with  rougher  and  coarser 
things,  only  they  came  out  unharmed.  This  invincible 
light  of  them  delighted  the  dark-eyed  rajahs,  and  when 


THE  DIAMOND  13 

later,  more  of  their  innate  brilliancy  was  revealed  by 
grinding  them  together,  the  oriental  mind  gave  them 
such  names  as  "  Sea  of  Light,"  "  Light  of  the  Moon," 
and  the  like.  In  the  lands  of  the  Sun,  they  held  im- 
prisoned souls,  in  the  poetic  imagination  of  many.  Men 
saw  intelligence  in  the  plan  of  the  shapely  crystals,  and 
that  give  birth  to  speculations  which  became  the  nuclei 
of  many  superstitions.  To  their  fortunate  possessors 
they  were  treasures,  not  of  price  but  very  precious,  and 
peculiarly  fitted  to  adorn  the  persons  of  the  great.  The 
big  diamonds,  seldom  found,  were  guarded  with  jealous 
care  by  the  lords  whose  droit  they  were.  Held  often  at 
great  cost  of  blood  and  life,  when  they  did  change  hands, 
they  passed  only  to  conquerors  as  the  spoils  of  war. 

Now  that  one  may  see  diamonds  in  glittering  masses, 
not  only  in  jewelers'  windows,  but  in  dry-goods  stores, 
though  they  attract,  they  do  not  have  quite  the  effect 
upon  the  mind  of  the  beholder  which  the  mere  mention 
of  the  name  had,  when  they  were  seldom  seen,  and  then 
only  in  the  hands  of  cautious  dealers  or  upon  the  per- 
sons of  the  great  and  powerful.  Nevertheless,  there 
remains  something  of  the  old  regard.  The  diamond  is 
still  a  thing  of  great  price  and  a  sign  of  wealth  if  not 
of  power;  the  old  stories  of  diamonds,  blazing  in  the 
helmets  of  kingly  soldiers  and  from  the  folds  of  princely 
turbans,  gathered  there  by  many  devious  paths  of  blood- 
shed and  adventure  from  dark,  mysterious  mines,  still 
stir  the  soul  when  the  light  of  their  flashes  ensnares  the 
eye. 

India  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  natural  home 
of  the  diamond,  for  there  it  was  first  found.  In  the  old 
times,  when  journeys  to  the  Orient  could  only  be  made 


14  THE  DIAMOND 

safely  by  armies,  those  who  came  back  spread  wonder- 
ful tales  of  eastern  treasures,  so  that  the  lands  of  the 
East  became  the  dream  of  western  adventurers.  Imagi- 
nation so  rioted  over  those  stories  of  the  wealth  and 
magnificence  of  dusky  princes  and  their  courts,  that  the 
barren  sands  of  the  Orient  were  transformed  in  their 
dreams  to  gold,  and  all  the  pebbles  to  precious  stones. 

Diamonds  have  existed  within  the  reach  of  man  in  In- 
dia for  many  ages.  Not  only  are  they  found  in  the  valleys 
and  beds  of  streams,  but  also,  separated  from  the  matrix 
in  which  they  were  formed,  in  strata  of  detrital  matter 
that  have  since  been  covered  twelve  to  sixteen  feet  deep 
by  the  slow  accumulations  of  many  later  centuries. 
How  long  they  have  been  known  and  used  as  jewels  is 
uncertain.  Nor  do  we  know  when  they  were  first  dis- 
tinguished with  certainty  from  similar  white  transparent 
stones.  Probably  general  knowledge  was  the  growth  of 
many  ages,  during  which  those  who  knew,  profited  by 
the  prevailing  ignorance.  Hindu  legend  in  the  Mahab- 
harata  tells  of  a  diamond  worn  by  one  of  the  heroes 
5,000  years  ago.  It  is  possible  that  if  the  hero  really 
lived  he  did  wear  one.  It  is  also  possible  that  the  stone 
was  a  rock  crystal  or  a  colorless  zircon,  or  white  sap- 
phire, or  topaz,  for  all  these  have  at  one  time  or  an- 
other passed  for  diamonds,  but  from  the  fact  that  dia- 
monds are  specifically  mentioned  in  the  Hindu  ancient 
writings,  it  is  certain  that,  if  sometimes  confounded  with 
others,  the  stone  was  known  when  men  there  began  to 
make  records. 

Not  until  a  few  centuries  back  was  the  art  of  cutting 
and  polishing  the  diamond  discovered.  Prior  to  that, 
but  little  of  its  marvelous  brilliancy  was  known.  True, 


THE  DIAMOND  15 

for  ages  the  natural  stones  had  been  somewhat  improved 
by  rubbing  them  together,  but  before  that,  the  diamond 
as  found  would  not  have  been  likely  to  attract  the  finder 
as  much  as  the  rock  crystal  which,  in  its  rough  state, 
is  generally  much  more  brilliant.  Doubtless  many  of 
the  diamonds  of  legend  were  crystal,  especially  where 
they  are  said  to  have  been  engraved,  for  the  Ancients 
could  not  engrave  the  diamond.  This  native  hardness, 
which  now  makes  the  stone  pre-eminent  among  jewels, 
in  the  old  days  rendered  it  less  desirable  than  others. 
Even  in  the  sixteenth  century  it  was  valued  far  below 
rubies  and  emeralds.  Nevertheless  Pliny  speaks  of  it 
as  a  thing  which  exceeded  all  others  in  value  and  con- 
fined to  the  use  of  few  kings  even.  It  may  be  that  in 
his  time  it  was  more  highly  valued  than  later.  It  may 
be  that  he  romanced  about  this  as  he  did  about  many 
other  things,  though  some  of  Juvenal's  stories  give  evi- 
dence that  it  was  very  precious  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  Whatever  the  facts  concerning  it 
in  ancient  times  may  be,  the  diamond,  as  we  know  it, 
is  a  comparatively  late  production,  and  the  extreme  per- 
fection of  beauty  attained  by  the  cutting  of  to-day  has 
been  developed  in  this  generation.  As  Europe  taught 
the  Orient  what  undreamed-of  beauty  was  inherent  in 
its  native  gem,  by  the  art  of  cutting  and  polishing,  so 
did  the  new  empire  of  the  west  teach  Europe  how  to 
reach  the  acme  of  beauty  by  adapting  proportion  of  size 
and  shape  to  the  qualities  of  reflection  and  refraction. 
The  diamond,  as  we  know  it,  is  not  yet  fifty  years  of 
age. 

Before  exact  knowledge  was  acquired  of  the   com- 
bination of  qualities  which  constitute  a  diamond,  much 


1 6  THE  DIAMOND 

confusion  doubtless  existed.  White  topaz,  sapphire, 
zircon,  and  rock  crystal  might  be  easily  mistaken  for 
diamonds,  because,  they  are  brilliant  and  colorless,  and 
to  a  very  late  date,  real  diamonds  were  discarded  and 
destroyed  by  the  tests  for  hardness  which  ignorance  sug- 
gested. Peoples  among  the  ancients,  unacquainted  with 
the  stone,  did  not  understand  that  the  hard  pebbles 
which  could  not  be  abraded,  would  splinter  and  split 
easily.  Having  learned  that  many  of  the  bright  crystals 
found  were  not  the  hard  stone  which  they  prized,  they 
tested  them,  when  uncertain,  by  pounding  them  and 
destroyed  many  noble  gems  in  that  way. 

In  very  early  times  it  is  probable  that  the  diamond 
was  sought  more  for  its  hardness  than  for  use  as  a 
jewel.  Indications  of  this  exist  in  several  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  "  shamir  "  of  Ezekiel  and  Zecha- 
riah,  translated  in  our  version  after  the  Greek  to 
"  adamant  "  and  "  adamant  stone,"  in  Jeremiah  is  trans- 
lated "diamond."  The  prophet  says,  "The  sin  of 
Judah  is  written  with  a  pen  of  iron,  and  with  the  point 
of  a  diamond."  (Jer.  xvn,  i.)  Ancient  Jewish  writ- 
ers say  of  the  "  shamir/'  that  "  it  is  like  a  barley  corn, 
so  strong  as  to  cut  the  hardest  stones  in  pieces."  They 
claimed  that  Moses  used  it  for  cutting  the  stones  for 
the  two  tables  of  the  law,  and  for  fitting  the  precious 
stones  in  the  Ephod.  They  say  also  that  Solomon  cut 
with  it  the  stones  for  the  temple  he  built.  The  word 
rendered  diamond  in  Exodus,  where  it  is  given  as  one 
of  the  stones  in  the  High  Priest's  breastplate,  is 
"  Jahalom,"  coming  from  a  word  which  signifies  to  break. 
The  "  point  of  the  diamond  "  mentioned  in  Jeremiah, 
undoubtedly  refers  to  the  points  of  the  natural  crystal, 


THE  DIAMOND  17 

especially  when  found  as  an  octahedron,  which  was  a 
common  form  in  India,  and  the  reference  shows  that 
its  value  for  engraving  and  cutting  hard  substances  was 
known  at  that  time.  It  is  possible  that  the  "  Jahalom  " 
of  the  breastplate  was  some  other  stone  of  similar  ap- 
pearance, and  that  the  tribe  name  engraved  on  it  was 
cut  with  the  point  of  a  real  diamond  crystal,  though, 
inasmuch  as  diamond  will  cut  diamond,  both  the  breast- 
plate stone  and  the  cutter  may  have  been  diamonds. 
From  these  references  it  is  probable  that  the  diamond, 
at  the  time  they  were  written  (500  to  600  B.  C.),  was 
more  noted  for  its  hardness  than  its  beauty;  nor  would 
the  fact  that  a  diamond  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  stones 
in  the  Jewish  High  Priest's  breastplate  a  thousand  years 
earlier,  oppose  the  theory,  for  as  stated,  with  the  degree 
of  knowledge  about  precious  stones  existing  then,  other 
stones,  more  transparent  in  the  natural  crystal,  might 
have  been  used  as  diamond  jewels,  while  many  of  the 
real  diamonds  found,  on  account  of  their  refractory 
qualities  and  lack  of  exterior  brilliancy,  were  adjudged 
inferior  and  used  for  mechanical  purposes  only.  To-day 
some  of  the  noted  diamonds  (?)  stored  in  royal  treas- 
uries, are  under  suspicion,  and  are  believed  to  be  rock- 
crystal  or  topaz,  and  strength  is  given  to  the  supposi- 
tion by  the  refusal  of  the  owners  to  submit  them  to 
critical  examination  by  experts.  If  we  consider  how 
very  slow  and  gradual  has  been  the  growth  of  definite 
knowledge  about  precious  stones  even  during  the  last 
century,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  for  ages,  color- 
less shining  transparent  stones  were  all  classed  with  the 
hard  diamond,  even  as  red  stones  were  called  rubies 
because  they  were  red.  Then  came  a  period  of  danger- 


1 8  THE  DIAMOND 

ous  "  little  knowledge "  which  sought  to  cull  out  the 
stones  which  were  not  diamonds,  by  the  absurd  test  of 
the  hammer  and  the  anvil,  whereby  the  hard,  but  cleav- 
able  and  easily  fractured  diamond  was  destroyed  as 
effectually  as  the  softer  rock-crystal  and  topaz.  But  out 
of  every  chaos,  truth  finally  emerges:  the  matrix  of 
error  and  ignorance  wears  away  with  time,  for  only 
truth  endures.  And  so  step  by  step,  men  learned  to  dif- 
ferentiate these  similar  stones. 

There  yet  remained,  however,  as  an  obstacle  to  the  use 
of  the  diamond  as  a  jewel  of  the  first  class,  the  dull  ex- 
terior of  the  natural  crystal,  and  though  there  was  that 
about  the  light  of  it  which  fascinated  the  eye,  and  sug- 
gested beauty  imprisoned  behind  the  facets,  the  hard 
skin  barred  all  attempts  to  get  more  than  a  glimpse  of 
the  beauty  it  would  not  fully  release  or  unveil.  For 
centuries  that  hard  exterior  was  invincible  and  the 
flashing  brilliancy  of  the  cut  diamond  was  unknown. 
Then  came  the  idea  of  rubbing  and  grinding  the  stones 
together,  suggested  probably  by  a  desire  to  smooth  the 
surfaces  of  rough  and  hackled  crystals.  This  practice 
led  to  the  discovery  that  the  even  facets  of  the  smooth 
octahedron  could  be  improved  by  the  same  process,  but, 
from  all  we  can  learn,  the  ancients  got  no  farther. 

Another  hindrance  to  an  adequate  appreciation  of  the 
diamond  as  a  jewel  was  its  lack  of  color.  The  ruby, 
emerald  and  other  stones,  attracted  the  Oriental  eye  by 
their  color,  but  the  glory  of  the  diamond  is  its  brilliancy 
and  that  was  partly  hidden.  For  that  reason,  the  ruby 
and  inferior  stones  were  preferred,  and  even  now  that 
the  inherent  beauty  of  the  diamond  is  fully  revealed,  the 
natives  of  some  eastern  countries,  by  hereditary  instinct, 


THE  DIAMOND  19 

•rank  it,  as  did  their  forefathers,  below  the  blood-red 
stone  of  Burmah. 

Though  the  diamond  and  other  similar  stones  sup- 
posed to  be  diamonds,  were  known  and  treasured  for 
several  thousand  years  B.  C.  in  India  and  neighboring 
countries,  it  was  comparatively  unknown  in  Europe  be- 
fore the  invasion  of  India  by  Alexander  the  Great,  327 
B.  C.  Returning  Greeks  brought  knowledge  of  the  dia- 
mond to  Europe,  and  their  leaders  doubtless  brought 
some  of  the  precious  stones  also.  From  Greece  they 
were  carried  to  Rome  by  war  and  commerce,  so  that 
during  the  first  century  they  are  mentioned  by  Roman 
poets  and  historians  in  their  writings. 

The  English  name  for  the  stone  and  the  French  "  dia- 
mant "  are  synonymous  with  "  adamant "  from  the 
Greek  "  adamas  " —  untamable  —  the  unconquerable.  It 
is  derived  from  the  Greek  a  — "  un "  and  8a/xao>  — 
"  tame."  The  name  was  Latinized  as  Rome  superseded 
Greece  as  a  world-governing  power,  into  "  diamas,"  and 
established  with  slight  variations  by  medieval  writers  in 
the  vernacular  of  the  various  European  nations;  origi- 
nally as  "  aimant  "  and  "  ayment  "  in  France,  and  "  die- 
mant  "  and  "  demant  "  in  Germany. 

The  word  is  apparently  more  ancient  than  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  stone  in  Europe,  and  was  probably  attached 
to  the  stone  because  it  conveyed  an  idea  of  the  gem's 
quality  of  invincible  hardness.  In  the  writings  of  some 
of  the  Ancients,  the  word  signified  a  hard  metal  or 
weapon,  and  it  was  also  used  as  a  personal  name.  As 
the  stone,  which  could  rend  any  other  thing  and  with- 
stood all  others,  came  to  be  known  in  Greece  and  Rome, 
the  word  in  their  language  which  carried  an  idea  of  its 


20  THE  DIAMOND 

prominent  quality  was  doubtless  used  at  first  descriptively, 
and  became  later  by  custom  established  in  the  no- 
menclature of  gems.  There  was  little  use  for  the  name 
in  western  Europe  until  the  fourteenth  century,  as  the 
stone  was  not  generally  known,  and  there  were  few  of 
any  importance  in  Europe  until  long  after.  A  Portu- 
guese writer  of  the  sixteenth  century  claimed  that  all 
stones  over  30  mangelins  (37/^2  carats)  were  the  droit  of 
the  rulers  of  the  countries  where  they  were  found.  An- 
other writer  a  century  later  said  that  at  Golconda  the 
reigning  prince  claimed  all  stones  of  ten  carats  and 
over.  As  late  as  1838,  John  Murray  stated  there  were 
but  19  diamonds  of  36  carats  and  up,  in  Europe.  It 
has  been  asserted  that  not  more  than  100  stones  over  30 
carats  each  were  in  existence  about  the  time  of  the 
African  discoveries,  of  which  perhaps  half  were  in 
Europe.  One  old  writer  mentioned  as  a  thing  hard  to 
believe,  that  he  himself  had  seen  one  weighing  140 
carats  and  had  heard  of  another  which  weighed  250 
carats.  In  his  time  (early  part  of  the  igth  century) 
Ma  we  said  he  did  not  think  there  were  a  half  a  dozen 
very  large  diamonds  in  Europe,  and  they  were  in  the 
hands  of  sovereign  princes.  He  probably  had  in  mind 
stones  over  100  carats,  of  which  there  were  two  each  in 
the  crown  jewels  of  Russia  and  Portugal,  the  Austrian 
"  Florentine,"  and  the  "  Regent "  of  the  French  crown 
jewels.  Tavernier  says  that  before  the  Coulour  or 
Kollur  mine  of  India  was  opened  in  1550,  the  largest 
found  were  about  ten  or  twelve  carats.  This  does  not 
tally  with  some  of  the  ancient  histories  attached  to 
several  of  the  celebrated  diamonds  of  India.  The  list 
of  stones  published  in  1874  at  the  sale  of  the  Duke  of 


THE  DIAMOND  21 

Brunswick's  collection,  includes  7  diamonds  ranging 
from  37  to  8 1  carats  each. 

It  is  evident  from  the  remarks  of  Pliny  about  the 
diamond,  that  from  its  introduction  by  the  Greeks  into 
Europe  until  his  time,  over  three  hundred  years  later, 
but  little  was  learned  of  the  stone,  for  his  accounts  of 
it  are  absurd  fables,  and  his  statement  that  there  were 
"  six  varieties,"  of  which  the  Indian  and  Arabian  were 
of  "  unspeakable  hardness,"  indicates  that  softer  stones 
were  yet  thought  to  be  diamonds. 

By  the  traffic  of  Rome,  the  diamond  was  gradually 
carried  westward,  but  owing  to  the  inability  to  cut  and 
polish  it  until  well  on  in  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was 
not  classed  as  the  equal  of  rubies  and  emeralds.  In  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  even,  Benvenuto  Cellini 
ranked  it  third  among  precious  stones,  placing  the  value 
of  it  as  about  one-fourth  that  of  the  emerald,  and  the 
emerald  at  half  that  of  the  ruby.  It  may  interest  some 
who  know  little  of  the  value  of  these  colored  precious 
stones,  to  learn  that  he  estimated  a  perfect  ruby  weigh- 
ing one  carat  at  the  equivalent  of  eight  hundred  dollars. 

Reviewing  the  information  to  be  had,  it  appears  cer- 
tain that  diamonds  were  known  and  appreciated  in  India 
at  least  five  thousand  years  ago.  They  were  brought 
into  Europe  twenty-two  hundred  years  ago.  During 
that  period,  similar  stones  were  thought  to  be  diamonds, 
the  Indian  stones,  classified  as  superior  on  account  of 
their  hardness,  probably  being  the  real  diamonds.  By 
way  of  Greece  and  Rome,  a  few  drifted  into  the  hands 
of  the  monarchs  and  powerful  nobles  of  countries  far- 
ther west  during  the  next  fifteen  hundred  years,  then  to 
a  greater  extent  as  Spain,  Portugal,  England  and  others 


22  THE  DIAMOND 

established  direct  communication  with  India.  As  be- 
fore stated,  there  is  evidence  that  the  points  of  the 
crystals  were  in  use  six  hundred  years  B.  C.  as  gravers. 
After  the  art  of  cutting  and  polishing  it  was  discovered 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  gem  grew  in  favor  as  a 
jewel,  slowly,  however,  and  the  use  of  it  was  still  con- 
fined to  the  rich  and  powerful.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  impetus  was  given  towards  its 
establishment  in  public  knowledge  and  favor,  by  the  dis- 
covery of  new  fields  in  Brazil.  From  that  time  it  be- 
came a  theme  for  historians  and  romancers.  During  the 
eighteenth  century,  scientists  were  attracted  to  it,  and 
began  to  acquire  exact  information  about  its  nature, 
formation,  and  various  qualities,  proceeding  to  make 
reasonable  speculations  regarding  its  antecedents.  This 
was  continued  throughout  the  nineteenth  century  with 
the  addition  of  careful  experiments  and  research  for  the 
trial  of  theories  and  the  acquirement  of  definite  knowl- 
edge. During  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  opening  up  of  new  diamond  fields  in  Africa  containing 
unlimited  quantities,  simultaneous  with  an  unexampled 
development  of  industry  in  all  departments  throughout 
the  world,  and  the  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the 
United  States,  combined  to  place  the  gem  in  a  position 
of  great  prominence,  not  only  as  the  jewel  of  fortune's 
favorites  everywhere,  but  as  a  great  factor  in  the  world's 
store  of  enduring  wealth,  for  while  the  greater  items 
of  food  supply  and  manufactures  must  be  constantly 
replenished,  to  repair  the  loss  by  consumption  and  wear 
and  tear,  the  product  of  the  diamond  fields  simply  ac- 
cumulates. 

The  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  sees  this  superb 


MADAME  CAVALIERI.     Courtesy  of  Aime  Dupont 


THE  DIAMOND  23 

gem  in  much  more  beautiful  form  than  ever  the  mon- 
archs  of  old  saw  it,  scattered  through  every  village  and 
hamlet  in  the  United  States,  and  upon  the  hands  and 
necks  of  daughters  of  the  plain  people,  sparkle  and  flash 
gems  more  royal  than  the  royalties  of  the  world  for 
thousands  of  years  ever  knew. 


CHAPTER  II 

DIAMONDS    COMMERCIALLY 

T7EW  people  recognize  the  influence  which  the  dia- 
•*•  mond  has  had  in  the  world's  affairs.  Generally  it 
is  regarded  as  a  bauble  simply:  a  star  to  shine  in  the 
lighter  realms  of  love  and  pleasure,  but  outside  the 
plane  of  rugged  forces  which  are  supposed  to  govern 
the  serious  interests  of  life.  Yet  a  moment's  reflection 
will  convince  one  that  love  and  pleasure  are  most  potent 
to  set  in  motion  the  machinery  of  stern  action.  The 
loves  of  rulers,  many  of  them  illicit,  have  cost  nations 
as  much  blood  and  treasure  as  the  establishment  of  great 
principles,  and  the  march  of  armies  has  often  been  de- 
layed to  wait  on  the  pleasure  of  a  potentate  or  general. 
A  voluptuous  queen  of  conquered  Egypt  toyed  with  the 
power  of  Rome;  the  favorites  of  the  King  bent  the  knees 
of  France's  nobles,  wasted  her  substance  and  enslaved 
her  people.  Since  the  beginning,  man  has  lived  for 
pleasure  in  some  form,  and  whether  good  or  bad,  love 
has  been  one  of  its  chief  sources,  and  in  the  realm  of 
love  the  diamond  has  been  for  centuries  very  powerful. 
But  not  alone  thus  indirectly  has  the  diamond  been 
a  serious  influence  in  the  earth,  but  as  a  direct  lure  to 
greed,  Nature  has  by  it  broken  down  the  barriers  against 
progress,  and  kept  in  fermentation  the  life  of  the  world 
to  clarify  it.  The  narrow  bounds  of  Hindu  principali- 
ties were  periodically  scattered  by  one  raiding  the 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY          25 

treasure  house  of  another,  thereby  weakening  in  the 
process  ignorance  and  prejudice,  and  leveling  a  racial 
plane  on  which  to  build  a  greater  India.  The  Persians 
looted  Delhi.  The  Afghans  robbed  Persia.  Greece 
and  Rome  overran  them  all,  the  chief  incentive  in  each 
case  plunder,  in  which  the  diamond  shone  most  alluringly. 
Later,  England  sailed  the  seas  for  the  fabulous  wealth 
of  the  Orient;  Spain  sent  her  adventurers  to  the  new 
hemisphere  of  the  West ;  the  world  gathered  at  the  mines 
of  Africa,  and  in  all,  the  diamond  was  one  of  the  forces 
that  moved  them. 

It  is  difficult,  in  these  prosaic  times,  to  realize  the 
feelings  of  the  Ancients  in  their  regard  of  the  diamond. 
It  was  held  in  awesome  reverence  by  the  multitude, 
and  by  a  reflex  action,  in  a  lesser  degree  by  those  who 
owned  them.  Nor  did  familiarity  breed  contempt  in  the 
minds  of  the  possessor,  for  his  possessions  were  desired 
by  all  his  peers,  many  of  whom  were  ready  to  barter 
great  things  to  gain  them.  A  great  diamond  gave  re- 
nown to  the  prince  who  owned  it.  It  was  a  lustrous 
sign  of  his  power  and  wealth,  bruited  farther  than  his 
deeds.  And  it  was  a  reserve  fund  in  emergency.  With 
it  he  could  raise  troops,  win  powerful  friendships,  and 
wield  influence  with  men  who  then  as  now  flock  close 
to  those  who  have  what  they  have  not.  Travelers  and 
traders  told  of  its  magnificence,  and  the  hearers  vied 
with  each  other  in  swelling  its  glories  and  value  when 
they  retold  the  story.  Far-off  monarchs  despatched 
embassies  to  negotiate  for  it,  as  for  something  of  national 
importance,  and  the  lives  of  subjects  were  not  counted  if 
their  sacrifice  would  gain  it.  How  must  the  people  re- 
gard a  thing  which  lying  in  the  palm  of  a  hand,  was 


26  THE  DIAMOND 

reckoned  of  more  value  than  their  lives  by  him  who  com- 
manded them?  If  he  said,  "Fill  the  breach  mine  ene- 
mies have  made  to  get  my  diamond,  with  your  bodies," 
they  must  do  so. 

His  diamonds  were  to  the  old-time  prince  of  the 
Orient  and  are  somewhat  so  to-day,  his  fortune.  Hav- 
ing no  system  of  usury,  valuables  were  hoarded,  and  of 
them  the  diamond  was  the  most  concentrated  form  of 
wealth,  taking  but  little  space  for  storage,  and  easily 
transported  in  time  of  danger.  To  the  rajah,  his 
treasure  chest  was  as  lands  were  to  the  feudal  barons, 
or  as  his  investments  are  to  the  money-king  of  to-day, 
except  that  it  bore  him  neither  rents  nor  interest.  He 
met  his  current  expenses  by  making  levies  upon  his 
people;  if  his  people  failed  him,  he  had  his  treasure- 
chest. 

Some  of  these  ancient  conditions  still  surround  the 
diamond  to-day.  Princes  of  the  Orient  by  hereditary 
instinct  acquire  and  hold  jewels  with  old-time  tenacity, 
though  many  of  them  are  learning  the  modern  method 
of  making  investments  yield  an  income.  Men  and 
women  the  world  over,  yet  see  diamonds  through  the 
mists  with  which  ancient  superstitions  and  reverence 
hallowed  them,  but  beyond  this,  they  have  of  late  ac- 
quired an  important  place  in  the  commerce  of  the  world 
as  a  staple  product.  When  the  diamond  fields  of  India 
and  Brazil  were  the  chief  sources  of  supply,  there  was  a 
constant  uncertainty,  the  fever  of  an  unknown  quantity, 
arising  from  the  irregularity  of  the  yield  and  instability 
of  price.  A  definite  idea  in  the  public  mind  of  value 
was  impossible,  for  buyers,  like  the  supply,  were  limited 
and  spasmodic.  The  African  mines,  and  the  develop- 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  27 

ment  of  the  United  States,  have  changed  this  condition. 
The  supply  of  diamond-bearing  earth  apparently  is  in- 
exhaustible. The  yield  is  so  even  that  the  average 
weight  of  diamonds  that  will  be  found  in  a  given  quan- 
tity of  earth,  from  the  mines  individually  and  collectively, 
is  known  beforehand  to  the  fraction  of  a  carat.  The 
output  can  be  regulated  with  the  exactitude  of  a  factory, 
and  as  the  principal  mines  have  been  all  under  the  con- 
trol of  one  syndicate,  deliveries  and  price  could  also  be 
adjusted  at  will. 

With  the  control  practically  of  the  diamond  output  of 
the  world,  the  Anglo- African  syndicate  began  to  sort 
and  grade  the  rough  closer,  until  now  no  staple  is  more 
closely  sorted  than  are  African  diamonds,  and  the  price 
set  on  them  has  been  absolute  and  indisputable.  The 
keen  system  which  governs  the  present  marketing  of 
diamonds  is  destructive  of  the  sentiment  and  romance 
which  was  once  so  characteristic  of  the  business.  It  has 
robbed  it  largely  of  the  element  of  uncertainty  which 
aforetime  appealed  so  strongly  to  the  gambling  instinct 
of  the  trader.  It  has  also  raised  the  traffic  to  the  dignity 
of  a  staple  of  commerce.  The  enormous  production  of 
these  later  years,  and  the  wider  sale  for  diamonds  which 
has  resulted  from  the  strenuous  and  successful  exertions 
of  the  world  during  the  last  decade  to  create  and  ac- 
cumulate wealth,  have  combined  to  make  the  diamond 
an  important  item  in  the  trade  of  the  world.  Twenty- 
five  years  ago,  few  jewelers  in  the  United  States  car- 
ried diamonds  in  stock;  to-day  there  is  scarcely  a  jeweler 
in  the  States,  even  in  remote  hamlets,  who  does  not 
carry  some,  and  jewelers  of  prominence  carry  an 
average  of  from  one  hundred  thousand  to  a  million  dol- 


28  THE  DIAMOND 

lars  worth.  Nearly  forty  million  dollars  worth  of  vari- 
ous kinds  were  imported  into  the  United  States  during 
1906.  As  many  of  these  were  uncut,  the  value  of  that 
portion  of  them  was  largely  increased  after  their  arrival. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  diamonds  sold  in  the  United 
States,  pass,  in  the  beginning,  through  comparatively 
few  hands.  Some  by  way  of  cutters,  who  import  rough 
diamonds  and  cut  them  here.  As  the  diamond  syndi- 
cate sells  the  rough  in  large  parcels  for  cash,  and  will 
give  a  "  sight,"  as  the  opportunity  to  look  at  the  original 
lots  from  Africa  on  arrival  in  London  is  termed,  to 
but  few,  these  firms  must  be  strong  financially,  and  well 
equipped  to  handle  the  rough,  and  market  the  finished 
material.  This  means  that  they  must  not  only  have  con- 
siderable capital,  but  good  banking  facilities,  a  large  shop, 
and  a  connection  with  large  buyers.  There  are  a 
number  of  smaller  cutters  who  could  neither  get  a 
"  sight "  in  London,  nor  handle  the  parcels  offered,  if 
they  could.  These  depend  on  the  irregular  offerings  of 
independent  miners,  for  their  supplies,  or  on  the  odd 
stones  and  small  lots  thrown  on  the  market  by  firms  who 
do  buy  at  first  hands. 

The  large  cutters  sell  their  product  to  importers  and 
jobbers  usually.  Some  divide  their  original  parcels,  and 
apportion  the  division  among  firms  generally  supposed 
to  be  cutters,  but  who  do  not  actually  own  or  operate  the 
cutting  shops.  One  firm  cuts  fine  material  only,  as  per- 
fectly as  possible,  regardless  of  the  loss  of  weight  neces- 
sary to  secure  exact  faceting  and  the  proper  outline  and 
proportions.  A  few  large  retailers  who  have  customers 
willing  to  pay  very  high  prices  for  stones  which  are  un- 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  39 

questionably  superior  in  every  way,  take  the  output  of 
this  shop. 

Importers  buy  most  of  the  diamonds  they  handle  of 
foreign  cutters  in  Amsterdam,  Antwerp,  London,  and 
Paris,  and  sell  what  they  import,  as  far  as  possible,  in 
the  original  parcels.  Some  of  the  lots,  they  assort  for 
size  and  perfection  to  suit  small  wholesale  dealers  and 
retailers.  Exceptionally  fine  stones  are  often  separated 
and  sold  singly  at  an  individual  rating  which  accords 
with  the  fineness  of  color,  degree  of  perfection,  and  size. 
The  buyers  for  these  houses  visit  the  markets  of  Europe 
once  or  twice  a  year,  and  a  few  of  them  keep  an  agent 
most  of  the  time  in  London,  from  which  city  they  make 
occasional  excursions  to  the  continent  as  may  be  neces- 
sary. 

During  the  last  ten  years,  a  considerable  quantity  of 
diamonds  has  been  imported  by  retailers.  The  reputa- 
tion of  making  importations  direct,  the  expectation  of 
buying  cheaper,  and  the  buyer's  desire  for  a  foreign  trip, 
have  been  the  inducements,  and  the  flush  times  made  it 
possible.  Generally,  such  buyers  gain  no  advantage  in 
the  cost  of  their  purchases:  oftentimes,  after  expenses 
have  been  included,  the  goods  cost  them  more  than  if 
bought  here.  With  little  experience  and  knowledge  of 
foreign  methods,  and  buying  under  conditions  to  which 
they  are  unaccustomed,  these  occasional  visitors  to  Euro- 
pean markets,  frequently  overload  themselves  with  goods 
unsuited  to  their  trade,  and  pay  prices  actually  in  excess 
of  those  demanded  here,  though  apparently  less.  If  they 
buy  original  parcels  of  mixed  sizes  and  a  wide  range  in 
degree  of  perfection,  they  are  seldom  able  to  gauge  the 


30  THE  DIAMOND 

average  value :  if  they  insist  on  assorted  goods,  they  pay 
fully  as  much  minus  the  duty  which  they  pay  later,  as 
they  would  in  their  home  market,  and  to  which  must  be 
added  the  cost  of  the  trip  to  Europe.  As  the  people  they 
sell  to,  know  less  about  the  goods,  they  succeed  fairly 
well  in  marketing  them  at  a  profit,  and  as  long  as  trade 
is  sufficiently  good  to  warrant  the  expense,  such  buyers 
will  probably  remain  convinced  that  the  annual  trip  to 
Europe  is  a  good  stroke  of  business. 

Importations  of  this  character  have  been  sufficiently 
large  of  late  years  to  materially  affect  the  price  of  goods 
on  the  other  side.  When  the  markets  are  full  of  buyers 
who  do  not  know  inside  values,  Europeans  are  not  slow 
to  take  advantage  of  the  situation.  While  they  are  able 
to  sell  to  men  who  have  cash  in  hand,  at  large  profits,  it  is 
difficult  for  the  dealers  who  are  buying  to  sell  to  the  same 
trade,  to  get  bottom  prices  against  such  competition.  In 
this  way  cutters  and  second-hand  dealers  in  Europe  have 
been  enabled  to  get  very  profitable  prices,  of  which  the 
syndicate,  noting  it,  took  advantage  and  periodically 
raised  the  price  of  rough  to  correspond.  Of  course  the 
tremendous  increase  in  the  price  of  diamonds  during  the 
past  ten  years  must  be  charged  primarily  to  the  control 
of  the  mines  by  the  syndicate  and  to  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  world  and  of  the  United  States  in  particu- 
lar, for  the  States  use  a  majority  of  the  African  dia- 
monds mined,  nevertheless  the  flood  of  small  and  reckless 
American  buyers  in  Europe,  has  undoubtedly  assisted 
the  diamond  syndicate  to  a  large  degree  in  their  policy 
of  steadily  advancing  the  price  oi  diamonds. 

The  importance  of  the  diamonds  themselves  as  an 
item  of  commerce  is  however  but  a  small  part  of  their 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  31 

influence  commercially.  The  influence  is  much  more 
far-reaching.  •  From  1652,  when  the  Dutch  made  a  set- 
tlement at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  re-enforced  later 
by  three  hundred  Huguenot  emigrants,  until  1814,  when 
by  right  of  conquest  and  purchase  the  Cape  Colony  be- 
came a  British  possession,  South  Africa  was  but  sparsely 
settled  by  Europeans  for  about  a  hundred  miles  inland. 
In  1820,  five  thousand  British  emigrants  were  added  to 
the  settlement.  Later,  many  of  the  Dutch,  to  escape 
British  rule,  trekked  to  the  north,  and  by  1854,  with  in- 
domitable spirit  and  their  guns,  shot  out  of  the  wilder- 
ness a  clearing  among  the  savage  Zulus  for  two  great 
States,  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free  State.  These 
and  the  Cape  Colony  progressed  slowly,  but  in  all  the  in- 
terior, the  Boer  farmers  were  thinly  scattered  over  vast 
tracts  of  land,  and  lived  a  primitive  life  that  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  great  and  busy  world  beyond  their  seques- 
tered confines.  And  all  around,  Zulus,  Basutos,  and 
Hottentots  lived  in  the  ungoverned  and  unknown  wilds 
of  savagery.  Then  came  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in 
1867.  Soon  the  fact  was  noised  abroad;  the  colonists 
began  to  flock  to  the  interior  where  the  discovery  was 
made.  Adventurous  spirits  from  the  British  Isles,  from 
France,  Germany,  the  United  States,  and  remote  places 
of  the  earth,  turned  their  faces  toward  that  center  of  at- 
traction. Impoverished  sons  of  noble  families,  trading 
Jews  of  Houndsditch,  rough,  strong  sons  of  toil,  keen, 
shrewd  Yankees,  men  of  all  races,  types,  religions,  and 
politics,  gathered  to  the  magic  sound  of  "  diamonds." 
By  1870  there  were  ten  thousand  of  them  searching  for 
the  precious  pebbles  in  the  Vaal  River.  They  found  the 
diamond-bearing  ground  of  Kimberley  in  Griqualand, 


*i  THE  DIAMOND 

and  a  town  of  30,000  inhabitants  had  come  into  existence 
there  among  the  wilds  two  years  later.  Since  then  oth- 
ers have  been  built  and  now,  where  wild  beasts  roamed 
at  will  with  a  few  drifting  tribes  of  savages  in  a  coun- 
try remote  from  civilization,  one  can  see  the  most  modern 
equipments  for  business  and  the  household,  and  the  best 
and  most  scientific  mining  machinery  that  the  world 
could  devise  and  build.  In  twenty-five  years  the  dia- 
mond did  more  to  build  a  new  empire,  than  the  pioneers 
of  the  most  vigorous  and  tenacious  races  the  earth  has 
ever  known,  had  succeeded  in  doing  in  over  three  hun- 
dred years. 

The  lure  of  the  diamond  in  Africa  has  raised  a  new 
generation  of  wealthy  men,  begun  a  new  empire,  ground 
together  a  number  of  antagonistic  individuals  into  a  co- 
herent nucleus  for  a  new  people;  it  has  encouraged  sci- 
entific research,  stimulated  engineering  skill,  developed 
great  natural  resources  and  uncovered  others.  By  its 
magic,  hitherto  almost  inaccessible  stretches  of  the  earth 
have  been  added  to  the  habitable  world,  thousands  of 
savages  are  brought  to  a  better  understanding  of  life 
and  made  amenable  to  the  laws  of  civilization,  and  as 
the  precious  pebbles  pass  from  one  to  another  until  they 
bring  delight  to  the  final  possessor,  from  the  Hottentot 
laborer  in  the  Compound,  to  the  fair  hand  of  plighted 
troth,  they  leave  in  the  passing  a  betterment  of  conditions 
to  all. 

Another  commercial  phase  is  their  value  as  a  con- 
centrated form  of  wealth.  Somewhat  of  the  Oriental 
idea  of  diamonds  as  a  safe  and  enduring  value  prevails 
with  most  people.  Comparatively  few  of  the  general 
public,  in  buying  them,  lose  sight  entirely  of  their 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  33 

exchange  value.  Many  buy  them  as.  a  luxury  only 
because  they  consider  them  as  good  for  money  in  case 
of  need.  In  good  times  they  tell  with  dazzling 
emphasis  the  success  of  the  owner;  in  times  of  stress 
they  are  a  quick  asset  or  unquestioned  collateral  that  re- 
quires no  search  or  legal  documents,  but  is  always  ready 
to  tide  him  over.  This  idea  often  leads  to  surprise  and 
dissatisfaction.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  person 
to  bring  to  Maiden  Lane  a  diamond  for  sale,  with  the 
confident  expectation  of  receiving  as  much  money  for  it 
as  he  paid  in  a  retail  store.  So  strong  is  this  idea  of  it 
as  a  thing  of  staple  value,  that  the  items  of  profit  for  the 
various  handlers  are  lost  sight  of,  and  these  profits  are 
necessarily  considerable. 

Large  as  the  diamond  trade  is,  the  sale  of  precious 
stones  is  comparatively  slow.  They  cannot  be  turned 
into  money  at  their  market  value  at  will  like  silver,  wheat 
and  other  things  in  constant  demand.  And  being  a  com- 
modity of  slow  and  irregular  sale  and  of  great  price, 
the  margins  of  profit  are  sometimes  greater.  If  there- 
fore, a  diamond  bought  at  retail  is  brought  to  a  cutter 
for  sale,  the  profits  of  the  retailer  and  the  jobber  must 
be  deducted.  The  cutter  estimates  it  at  what  he  could 
produce  it  for,  less  a  further  percentage  should  the  stone 
be  undesirable  in  any  way  for  his  particular  stock.  This 
rule  applies  to  any  stage  of  the  trade,  and  it  follows 
therefore,  that  the  retailer  can  afford  to  pay  more  than 
the  jobber,  and  the  latter  more  than  the  cutter.  Not- 
withstanding the  loss  entailed  in  the  disposal  of  a  dia- 
mond by  sale  to  a  dealer,  there  is  probably  no  other  thing 
outside  of  staple  commodities  which  will  hold  value  as 

securely  and  long,  or  can  be  turned  into  money  as  read- 
3 


34  THE  DIAMOND 

ily  as  the  diamond.  At  a  forced  sale  it  will  realize  more 
in  proportion  to  its  value,  on  an  average,  than  real  es- 
tate even. 

Since  the  diamond  syndicate  secured  such  perfect  con- 
trol of  the  trade,  the  profits,  after  the  diamonds  leave 
first  hands,  have  been  much  curtailed.  Cutters  will  sell 
large  parcels  to  houses  of  undoubted  credit  for  a  net 
profit  of  five  per  cent.,  after  deducting  interest  on  the  note 
given  in  payment.  Importers  will  sell  on  time  for  a 
profit  of  eight  to  fifteen  per  cent.,  according  to  the  com- 
mercial standing  of  the  buyer  and  the  length  of  time 
given.  Retailers  of  the  East  will  not  average  over 
twenty-five  per  cent,  profit.  As  cutters  and  importers 
sell  on  six  to  ten  months'  time,  and  sometimes  spread  a 
large  bill,  by  a  division  of  the  amount  in  notes  bearing 
no  interest,  over  a  period  of  from  six  to  eighteen  months, 
it  will  be  seen  that  quick  sales,  large  amounts,  and  good 
judgment  in  credits,  are  necessary  to  successful  business. 

The  frequency  with  which  the  syndicate  has  advanced 
the  price,  has  been  the  diamond  dealers'  good  fortune 
during  the  past  ten  years.  Never  sufficiently  large  to 
check  trade  —  the  advances  have  usually  been  five  per 
cent.,  occasionally  seven  and  one  half  per  cent. —  they 
have  stimulated  trade  with  a  money-making  public,  and 
encouraged  speculation  among  dealers,  who  were  able 
to  market  the  goods  and  make  at  least  part  of  the  ad- 
vances in  addition  to  regular  profits.  Curious  anoma- 
lies have  arisen  from  the  conditions.  During  that  pe- 
riod, small  dealers,  who  buy  about  once  a  year,  have 
frequently  found  when  the  time  came  to  lay  in  their 
stocks,  that  to  duplicate  what  they  bought  last,  they  had 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  351 

to  pay  as  much  for  stones  as  they  were  selling  them  for 
at  retail;  in  some  cases  more. 

As  the  retailer  does  not  usually  turn  his  stock  of  dia- 
monds more  than  once  a  year,  his  profits  are,  compara- 
tively, less  than  most  staples  which  are  turned  more  fre- 
quently at  a  smaller  profit,  and  they  are  actually  less  than 
the  percentage  of  profit  afforded  by  many  of  the  neces- 
sities, as  shoes,  scarves,  and  clothing  both  for  male  and 
female  wear,  and  a  large  number  of  foodstuffs. 

In  ordinary  times  the  diamond  trade  is  not  a  money- 
making  business.  The  volume  of  sales,  compared  with 
the  stock  necessary  to  do  the  business,  entails  an  interest 
account  which  eats  up  a  large  part  of  the  profits.  Pan- 
ics usually  find  the  dealer  with  a  large  stock  on  hand, 
and  notes  out  for  a  considerable  part  of  it.  As  a  re- 
sult, much  of  the  money  made  during  the  flush  period 
preceding,  melts  away  before  all  the  notes  are  paid. 

Good-sized  fortunes  have  been  made  in  the  States  out 
of  diamonds,  usually  by  shrewd  importers  who  have 
been  able  to  extend  large  credits  to  jobbers  and  retailers 
who  were  better  able  to  market  the  goods  than  to  finance 
their  affairs  without  the  assistance  of  the  firms  from 
whom  they  bought  their  stocks.  In  carrying  such  ac- 
counts, the  importer  not  only  makes  larger  profits,  but 
a  constant  income  from  renewals  of  notes,  as  he  can  gen- 
erally borrow  for  one  or  two  per  cent,  less  than  the  six 
per  cent,  he  charges.  The  method  is  about  as  follows: 
the  importer  noting  a  wholesale  or  retail  jeweler  of  mod- 
erate capital  who  is  doing  a  good  business  and  whose 
character  is  good,  approaches  him  with  an  offer  of  large 
credit  and  long  time,  payment  to  be  made  by  notes,  but 


36  THE  DIAMOND 

with  a  promise  of  assistance  if  the  buyer  is  not  able  to 
meet  them  when  due.  It  usually  happens  that  the  as- 
sistance is  needed.  The  renewal  notes  are  discounted 
at  six  per  cent.,  and  re-discounted  by  the  importer  after 
he  has  placed  his  name  on  the  back,  at  four  to  five  per 
cent.,  and  from  that  time  on  he  has  a  good  customer  at 
profitable  prices.  Some  good  salesmen  never  escape  this 
condition  of  dependence ;  others  do,  but  the  importer  gen- 
erally has  enough  such  customers  to  insure  an  outlet  for 
a  considerable  amount  of  goods,  and  even  if  the  buyer 
graduates  into  the  class  able  to  pay  bills  when  due,  the 
former  relations  have  begotten  a  confidence  which  in- 
clines him  to  buy,  other  things  being  equal,  of  the  man 
who  formerly  assisted  him  to  establish  himself. 

For  several  reasons  the  import  trade  is  done  princi- 
pally by  Jewish  firms.  They  constitute  about  eighty 
per  cent,  of  the  number  who  regularly  import  diamonds 
into  New  York,  and  have  headquarters  in  that  city.  The 
total  number  of  importers  is  about  sixty.  Of  these 
about  thirty-one  are  importers  whose  volume  of  business 
entitles  them  to  be  reckoned  as  of  the  first  class,  and 
twenty-nine  smaller  houses  may  be  termed  of  the  second 
class.  Two-thirds  of  the  first  class  and  over  ninety  per 
cent,  of  the  second  class  are  Hebrews.  This  does  not 
include  a  number  who  class  themselves  as  importers 
though  they  seldom  import  direct,  but  usually  buy 
through  a  large  house,  either  here,  or  on  the  other  side, 
and  have  the  goods  forwarded  through  the  Custom 
House  to  the  importer  in  New  York,  who  pays  the  duties 
and  makes  an  American  settlement  with  the  buyer.  Nor 
does  it  include  some  who  occasionally  import  small  lots, 
and  foreign  dealers  who  visit  New  York  irregularly. 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  37 

Large  retail  dealers,  some  of  whom  import  heavily,  are 
also  not  included. 

Most  of  the  men  of  whom  the  Jewish  firms  are  com- 
posed, are  of  foreign  birth,  whose  home  training  and 
connections  had  familiarized  them  with  the  trade  and  in- 
dustry at  the  source  of  supply.  Many  of  them  began 
business  here  as  importers  of  Swiss  watches,  or  job- 
bers of  jewelry,  and,  quick  to  see  the  trend  of  affairs, 
added  diamonds  when  our  flourishing  conditions  brought 
an  increasing  demand  for  them.  As  the  demand  for  dia- 
monds increased  and  Swiss  watches  were  displaced  by 
American,  and  the  manufacturers  of  jewelry  began  to 
sell  to  the  retail  trade  direct,  they  discarded  the  inferior 
lines,  and  concentrated  their  capital  and  energies  upon 
diamonds  alone.  , 

Being  in  line  with  the  business  by  their  European 
training  and  connections,  is  undoubtedly  the  chief  cause 
for  the  preponderance  of  the  Jewish  element  in  the  trade 
here,  but  there  are  other  reasons.  The  trade  is  one  that 
appeals  to  the  Jew.  There  is  an  element  of  uncertainty 
in  it.  Every  transaction  must  be  fought  out  individually 
for  profit,  and  the  profit  is  an  unknown  quantity  until 
the  deal  is  closed.  For  centuries,  in  most  countries, 
many  avenues  of  life,  into  which  the  struggle  for  suprem- 
acy among  men  tempts  the  adventurous,  have  been  closed 
to  him,  and  he  has  been  obliged  to  try  his  mettle  in  the 
more  peaceful  contests  afforded  by  trade.  Into  the  sale 
of  a  bill  of  diamonds  he  puts  the  soul  of  a  duelist.  It  is 
not  alone  for  the  money  in  it  he  seeks  to  get  a  good  price, 
but  to  win  in  the  battle  of  wits.  Like  the  man  of  the 
sword,  he  feints  with  wrist  and  eye;  attacks,  retreats, 
allures  and  uses  every  artifice  he  has  learned,  to  gain  the 


38  THE  DIAMOND 

advantage  of  his  adversary.  If  he  wins,  the  stakes  are 
appreciated,  but  it  is  upon  the  conquest  he  plumes  him- 
self. If  he  loses,  he  honors  the  man  that  withstood 
him. 

Another  reason  for  the  success  of  the  Jew  in  this  as  in 
other  trades,  is  his  quick  recognition  of  merit  in  those 
who  serve  him,  and  willingness,  when  the  demand  is  en- 
forced, to  share  the  profits  of  the  business  with  those  who 
assist  him  in  making  them.  Liberal  in  expenditures,  he 
will  allow  his  subordinates  to  spend  any  amount  necessary 
to  get  business  which  eventually  shows  a  profit,  and 
though  he  will  drive  as  hard  a  bargain  with  them  as  with 
others,  he  will  pay  a  profit-winner  who  insists,  more  than 
a  man  of  any  other  class  will,  to  hold  his  services.  Prac- 
tically the  Jews  are  the  most  democratic  of  all  people. 
They  gauge  a  man  by  what  he  can  do.  Name,  birth, 
breeding,  learning  even,  count  but  little,  in  their  estima- 
tion, for  the  man  who  cannot  himself  do  things;  they 
count  nothing  against  him  if  he  can.  The  office  boy  who 
demonstrates  that  he  can  sell  goods  is  immediately 
treated  with  the  consideration  due  to  a  salesman;  his 
former  insignificance  is  at  once  forgotten. 

In  this  way  the  senior  members  of  their  firms  grad- 
ually withdraw  to  the  rear  where  they  hold  the  reins  of 
finance,  while  the  van  of  active  business  is  held  by  a 
young  working  force  in  touch  with  present  conditions 
and  who  have  learned  how  to  do  business,  not  by  school 
and  luxury,  but  by  work  and  experience.  A  Jewish 
firm  may  last  many  years,  but  it  seldom  grows  old  or  in- 
firm. Add  to  these  qualifications,  an  unbounded  capac- 
ity for  work,  and  an  almost  instinctive  understanding 
of  the  principles  of  finance,  and  the  fact  that  the  im- 


DIAMONDS  COMMERCIALLY  39 

portant  end  of  the  diamond  business  is  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  Jews  in  this  country,  is  explained. 

The  diamond  has  been  a  great  commercial  influence, 
not  only  by  opening  new  'territory  and  thereby  largely 
increasing  the  demand  for  other  products  to  supply  the 
needs  of  new  and  increasing  commodities,  but  it  has 
become  a  valuable  assistant  in  the  development  of  im- 
portant modern  staples  of  commerce.  Bort  and  carbo- 
nado, the  semi-transparent  and  crypto-crystalline  dia- 
monds, though  useless  for  gem  purposes,  are  used 
extensively  in  processes  of  manufacture  where  great 
resistance  to  wear  and  tear  is  requisite.  These  are  used 
to  saw  marble,  granite,  and  other  hard  stones;  to  drill 
and  bore  in  mining  and  similar  operations,  and  from  the 
refuse  of  gem  crystals  are  made  draw-plates  for  draw- 
ing the  fine  metal  wires  so  necessary  for  electrical 
supplies.  The  supreme  hardness  of  the  material  enables 
the  manufacturer  to  draw  great  lengths  of  wire  without 
the  slightest  variation  of  gauge  through  the  enlargement 
of  the  holes,  as  would  be  the  case  with  a  plate  of  hard 
metal.  It  is  a  curious  fact  worthy  of  attention  in  pass- 
ing, that,  as  needs  arise  in  the  evolution  of  man's 
mechanical  skill,  Nature  presents  some  new  form  of 
supply  adequate.  Simultaneous  with  the  tremendous 
development  of  mining,  tunneling,  and  the  application 
of  scientific  discoveries  to  practical  purposes  during  the 
past  fifty  years,  the  diamond  fields  of  Africa  and  the 
carbonado  fields  of  Bahia, .  containing  vast  quantities  of 
material  suitable  for  the  requirements  of  those  condi- 
tions, were  discovered  and  developed.  Similarly,  the 
yield  of  gem  stones  has  been  abundant  for  the  demands 
of  an  era  of  unprecedented  prosperity.  The  abundance 


40  THE  DIAMOND 

of  Nature  is  such  that  no  demand  of  man  can  arise 
for  which  there  is  not  a  possible  supply.  If  he  needs 
heat,  and  the  sun's  rays  are  insufficient,  he  learns  to 
kindle  fires  and  get  the  needed  heat  by  burning  wood; 
as  the  wood  fails,  he  discovers  coal;  before  the  coal 
measures  are  exhausted,  he  finds  there  is  a  full  supply 
to  be  developed  from  electricity,  and  so  on.  It  is  not 
possible  for  a  man  to  need  more  than  Nature  can  supply, 
and  in  fact  most  if  not  all  of  man's  needs,  are  created 
by  the  supplies  which  surround  him.  Supply  and  de- 
mand are  the  working  phenomena  of  the  principle  in 
Nature  which  constantly  scatters  and  re-unites  the  ele- 
ments, making  out  of  heterogeneous  masses,  homo- 
geneous combinations  and  vice  versa,  thereby  insuring 
the  continuity  of  life  and  progress. 


A  PRINCE  OF  INDIA 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   GROWTH    OF   THE  DIAMOND   TRADE 

17* OR  centuries,  probably  thousands  of  years,  diamonds 
•••  were  a  royal  perquisite.  They  blazoned  the  regal 
state  of  Oriental  princes,  and  were  a  sign  of  autocratic 
power.  Ordinary  trade  in  them  was  confined  to  small 
and  poor  stones  and  the  few  fine  ones  which  escaped 
the  requisitions  of  the  rulers  where  they  were  found. 

Little  is  known  of  the  ancient  traffic  in  diamonds.  It 
is  said  the  the  Arabs  and  Phoenicians  traded  in  them. 
They  were  not  only  used  as  jewels,  but  as  cutters  and 
gravers  for  centuries  B.  C,  therefore  they  must  have 
been  carried  far  and  wide  throughout  the  Orient;  but 
literature  had  small  space  for  commerce  in  those  days. 
Though  we  read  of  the  uses  to  which  they  were  put, 
we  know  little  of  the  channels  by  which  they  were 
gathered  and  distributed. 

As  far  as  we  know,  they  were  found  only  in  India, 
but  later  discoveries  of  very  ancient  mining  operations 
in  Rhodesia,  suggest  that  they  were  also  taken  from 
Africa  many  centuries  ago.  The  diamond  fields  of 
India  were  confined  to  a  comparatively  small  section  of 
the  country  in  the  southern  central  part  of  India  back 
from  the  eastern  coast;  in  the  Deccan,  near  the  banks 
of  the  Godavari,  Krishna  and  Pannar  rivers  and  the 
country  lying  between  them ;  and  a  section  farther  north 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mahanadi,  in  the  Panna  district  of 

41 


42  THE  DIAMOND 

the  country  known  as  Bundelkhand.  The  latter  are 
supposed  to  be  the  oldest  diamond  mines  of  India,  though 
the  more  southerly  diggings  which  include  the  Golconda 
district,  are  more  famous. 

From  a  Dutchman  named  Van  Linschoten,  we  learn 
something  of  the  way  in  which  mining  was  conducted 
in  India  late  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Writing  in  1596 
of  the  mines  in  the  kingdom  of  Bisnager  whose  capital 
was  at  Hampi  in  the  Bellary  district,  he  said,  "  The  dia- 
monds are  digged  from  several  hills  near  the  town  of 
Bisnager."  The  king  farmed  out  rights  to  mine  with 
the  condition  that  all  diamonds  weighing  above  25 
"  mangelyn  "  (between  34  and  35  carats)  should  be  his. 
The  mines  were  closely  watched,  and  in  the  language  of 
Van  Linschoten,  "  if  anie  man  bee  found  that  hideth 
anie  such,  he  looseth  both  life  and  goodes."  It  may  be 
conjectured  that  in  yet  earlier  times,  the  rulers  of  that 
and  other  diamond-producing  countries  were  equally 
vigilant  in  securing  the  best  of  the  mines  for  themselves. 

In  this  way,  large  stones  remained  in  the  possession 
of  princes,  some  probably  passing  from  the  kings  of 
the  producing  countries  to  others  as  bribes  for  military 
assistance  in  times  of  war,  or  for  other  favors.  Some 
were  exchanged  possibly  for  rubies,  pearls  and  emeralds 
found  in  other  kingdoms,  but  not  many  important  stones 
were  lost  to  the  land  of  their  nativity,  except  by  the  for- 
tunes of  war.  These  Hindu  princes  continued  to  add 
all  they  could  to  their  jewels,  and  accumulated  them 
until  a  prince  more  powerful  invaded  their  strongholds 
and  looted  the  treasuries.  It  is  estimated  that  the  loot 
taken  by  Nadir  Shah  when  he  sacked  Delhi  amounted 
to  seventy  million  pounds  sterling. 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     43 

Under  these  conditions,  it  will  be  readily  understood 
that  the  trade  in  diamonds  for  many  centuries  was  very 
limited,  and  was  confined  necessarily  to  those  suitable 
for  mechanical  purposes  only,  some  inferior  gem  stones, 
and  a  few  large  pieces  stolen  from  the  mines,  or  obtained 
by  knavery  of  some  kind.  One  may  imagine  also  the 
difficulties  of  trade  in  important  stones  under  these  cir- 
cumstances. The  dealer,  conscious  perhaps  that  his 
diamond  came  to  him  by  way  of  robbery,  perhaps  blood- 
shed, and  that  it  properly  belonged  to  the  ruler  of  his 
own  or  some  neighboring  country,  was  careful  to  hide 
its  antecedents  and  obliterate  as  far  as  possible  all 
records  concerning  it.  Secrecy  and  deceit  attended 
every  sale.  To  hide  more  thoroughly  the  real  history 
of  the  stone,  imagination  supplied  one  innocent  of  pun- 
ishable criminality,  but  ornate.  These  oriental  fables  in- 
vented by  the  chapmen  of  past  centuries,  drifted  through 
the  channels  of  trade  into  the  literature  of  later  days, 
and  still  cling  to  the  diamonds  of  India,  as  morning 
mists  hang  about  the  hillsides  long  after  the  sun  has 
risen.  These  methods  were  in  part  therefore  necessary. 
One  who  deals  in  diamonds  now  must  be  watchful. 
Even  when  a  stone  had  passed  from  one  to  another 
legitimately,  the  owner  had  need  then  for  greater  care 
than  now.  Diamonds  were  fully  as  attractive  to  thieves 
then.  Laws  were  very  uncertain;  magistrates  more  so, 
and  rulers  had  a  habit  of  finding  methods  to  obtain 
things  they  desired  which  did  not  include  a  quid  pro  quo. 
If  the  dealer's  title  to  ownership  was  open  to  question, 
an  attempt  to  sell  must  be  made  with  extreme  caution. 
Ordinary  stones  could  be  trafficked  in  openly,  or  carried 
for  sale  to  the  foreigners,  who  from  the  fifteenth  century 


44  THE  DIAMOND 

visited  the  seaports  to  trade  in  the  products  of  the  Orient, 
and  who  frequently  bought  diamonds  to  use  as  remit- 
tances for  their  own  purchases  in  the  home  countries. 
But  if  the  merchant  had  a  great  stone  which  came  into 
his  possession  by  way  of  a  miner  who  had  been  too 
adroit  for  the  watchful  eye  of  the  King's  overseer,  or 
from  the  hand  of  a  freebooter,  then  he  must  be  cautious. 
First  he  must  find  a  likely  purchaser;  then  by  skillful 
aids,  rumors  must  be  sent  floating  to  his  ear,  dropped 
as  lightly  and  skillfully  as  the  angler  drops  a  fly  upon  the 
water  to  be  carried  past  the  hiding  place  of  a  wary  trout. 
If  he  rose  to  the  bait,  some  one  stood  near  to  tell  what 
he  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  beauty  and  magnificence 
of  the  stone.  Hints  of  roguery,  danger,  the  desire  of 
some  great  rajah  to  own  it,  or  loot  from  a  far-away 
temple  or  royal  treasury,  were  made  to  stimulate  curi- 
osity and  whet  an  appetite  for  a  share  by  trade  in  the 
plunder.  In  good  time  the  merchant's  representative 
arrives  and  broaches  the  subject,  contriving  while  doing 
so  to  introduce  his  own  idea  of  the  great  value  and 
probable  price  of  the  gem.  He  leaves,  and  one  day,  it 
may  be  weeks,  it  may  be  months  later,  he  returns,  and 
with  him  the  merchant  and  his  great  diamond.  The 
jewel  is  exhibited,  the  price  asked,  given  and  wrangled 
over.  The  interview  ends,  and  the  wily  Orientals  leave, 
carrying  the  diamond  with  them.  At  unexpected  times, 
this  would  happen  again  and  again  until  an  offer  was 
made.  Then  the  trader  sought  by  every  artifice  to  get 
an  increase  until,  sure  that  he  had  the  last  rupee  possible, 
he  left  the  stone  and  carried  away  the  price.  Over  a 
year  was  consumed  in  the  negotiations  between  Jaur- 
chund  the  Hindu  merchant  and  Gov.  Pitt,  over  the  sale 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE    45; 

of  the  "  Pitt "  diamond.  The  first  price  asked  was 
200,000  pagodas;  Pitt's  first  offer  was  30,000  pagodas 
and  he  bought  it  finally  for  48,000,  or  £19,200.  He  did 
not  sell  it  until  fifteen  years  later. 

In  those  days  the  keen  competition  of  to-day  for  busi- 
ness did  not  exist.  Buyers  and  diamonds  both  were 
few.  The  great  endeavor  was  to  make  the  profit  suf- 
ficiently large  to  pay  for  long  waiting  and  the  risks  in- 
curred. 

As  India  came  under  the  control  of  the  English,  the 
diamond  industry  fell  off.  The  supply  was  too  uncer- 
tain to  attract  capital  for  organized  effort  after  western 
methods.  The  old  time  power  of  the  native  princes  to 
induce  their  subjects  to  go  into  the  business  of  looking 
for  diamonds,  no  longer  existed  as  a  stimulus.  As  the 
princes  came  into  subjection  to  the  English,  and  the  Eng- 
lish neither  forced  nor  assisted  the  industry,  it  lan- 
guished. About  this  time,  the  diamonds  of  Brazil  were 
discovered,  and  being  thrown  on  the  market  in  consider- 
able quantities,  proved  to  be  invincible  competitors. 
The  dealer  in  Indian  diamonds  succeeded  for  a  time  in 
discrediting  the  Brazilian  stones  by  arousing  suspicions 
as  to  their  genuineness,  and  later,  as  these  were  allayed, 
by  claiming  that  the  quality  was  inferior,  but  the  traders 
of  South  America  were  too  sharp  for  them.  Instead  of 
entering  into  a  controversy  over  the  matter,  they  shipped 
many  of  their  diamonds  by  way  of  Goa,  the  Portuguese 
East  Indian  port,  to  Europe  as  Indian  stones,  until  they 
had  established  a  market. 

A  large  part  of  the  diamonds  exported  from  India, 
went  to  Europe  as  remittances,  and  were  not  always 
profitable.  Sir  Stephen  Evance  writing  to  Pitt  in  1702 


46  .THE  DIAMOND 

says,  referring  to  a  lot  received  by  the  ship  Duchess, 
"  can't  sell  them  for  eight  shillings  the  pagoda."  He 
also  says  further,  that  another  dealer  had  been  "  obliged 
to  sell  his  remittance  for  six  shillings  the  pagoda,"  a 
loss  of  twenty-five  per  cent.,  as  the  pagoda  was  worth 
eight  shillings. 

European  houses  also  commissioned  merchants  and 
officials  stationed  in  India  to  buy  for  them.  Europeans 
living  there  speculated  in  them,  shipping  them  to  friends 
at  home  to  sell.  Captains  and  others  connected  with  the 
East  India  shipping  trade,  watched  for  opportunities  to 
add  profit  to  their  voyages  by  picking  up  an  occasional 
bargain  at  the  ports  they  called  at.  Some  notable  pearls 
and  diamonds  are  said  to  have  reached  Europe  in  that 
way. 

Discovery  of  diamonds  in  Brazil  brought  them  into 
more  general  use  in  Europe,  and  thereby  developed  the 
trade  in  them.  At  that  time  Brazil  was  governed  by 
Portugal  and  everything  found  there,  went  to  the  home 
country  for  disposal,  whereas  in  India  the  finest  dia- 
monds were  held  by  the  native  princes.  Up  to  1850, 
it  is  estimated  that  the  mines  of  Brazil  had  yielded  over 
ten  million  carats.  This  supply,  large  for  the  conditions 
then  existing,  naturally  created  a  wider  demand  for 
them  in  Europe,  but  as  there  was  no  attempt  to  con- 
trol the  output,  the  business  remained  purely  specula- 
tive, and  prices  were  governed  by  conditions  of  the 
moment.  When  Dom  Pedro  paid  the  interest  on  the 
Brazilian  state  debt  in  diamonds,  the  price  of  them  in 
London  fell  nearly  half.  In  1838  the  price  was  up 
again,  but  fell  with  the  French  Revolution  ten  years 
later.  The  Civil  War  in  America,  by  the  creation  of  new 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     47 

money  and  suddenly  acquired  fortunes,  raised  the  price 
twenty-five  per  cent.,  to  which  the  Franco- German  War 
added  another  ten  per  cent.,  and  an  era  of  prosperity 
succeeding,  sent  it  up  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent.  more. 
America's  panic  of  1873  broke  the  price  again,  and  it 
fell  steadily  with  the  advent  of  African  diamonds  until 
Cecil  Rhodes  syndicated  the  mines,  since  which,  with  an 
unprecedented  and  inexhaustible  supply,  the  prices  have 
been  gradually  forced  up  until  they  are  now  more  than 
double  what  they  were  at  that  time. 

The  coalition  of  the  Kimberley  and  De  Beers  in- 
terests under  Cecil  Rhodes  and  Barney  Barnato,  trans- 
formed the  diamond  trade  from  an  uncertain  and  specu- 
lative industry,  liable  to  sink  with  unfavorable  conditions 
into  insignificance,  to  one  of  international  importance, 
ranking  with  the  staples  of  commerce.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  industry  will  therefore  be  considered  mainly 
from  that  point. 

When  the  fact  became  apparent,  that  unlike  all  dia- 
mond mining  heretofore  in  India  and  Brazil  and  the 
first  discoveries  in  Africa  on  the  Vaal  River  conducted 
in  alluvial  debris,  the  diggings  about  Kimberley  and  else- 
where were  all  in  huge  pipes  or  chimneys  of  material 
in  which  the  diamonds  were  formed,  and  that  the  supply 
of  diamond-bearing  earth  was  practically  inexhaustible, 
the  reflection  followed,  that  without  some  powerful  con- 
trol of  the  diamond  output  of  Africa,  diamonds  would 
soon  become  so  common  and  plentiful,  that  however 
cheaply  they  could  be  mined,  competition  and  an  over- 
supply  would  cheapen  them  to  a  profitless  price.  Cecil 
Rhodes,  with  that  overlook  of  present  conditions  which 
enabled  him  to  grasp  their  future  outcome,  at  once 


48  THE  DIAMOND 

planned  a  combination  of  interests  in  the  African  fields 
sufficiently  strong  to  control  the  diamond  trade  of  the 
world,  so  strong  as  to  establish  a  confidence  in  dealer 
and  consumer  alike,  that  would  increase  demand,  and 
enable  the  mines  to  unload  upon  the  world  greater 
quantities  of  diamonds  than  ever  before  in  the  world's 
history,  and  at  prices  immensely  profitable  to  the  mining 
industry. 

The  year  1880  found  the  diamond-mining  industry  in 
South  Africa  in  a  precarious  condition.  Although  the 
mining  claims,  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  diamond- 
bearing  pipes,  were  concentrated  into  fewer  hands,  and 
arrangements  had  been  made  for  united  action  in  com- 
bating the  natural  difficulties  which  all  had  to  contend 
with,  as  hoisting,  pumping,  etc.,  the  methods  were  never- 
theless crude  and  disjointed.  The  mines  together  on 
each  of  the  chimneys,  formed  a  vast  hole  with  an  ir- 
regular bottom,  the  various  sections  representing  differ- 
ent ownerships,  being  higher  or  lower  according  to  the 
diligence  or  ability  of  the  owners  to  work  them.  Some 
parts  of  the  great  hole  in  the  Kimberley  were  over  four 
hundred  feet  down,  and  the  expense  incurred  in  working 
the  mines  became  so  great  as  to  eat  up  the  profits.  A 
new  difficulty  presented  itself;  the  reef,  as  the  strata  sur- 
rounding the  pipes  are  called,  began  to  cave  in.  Men 
with  good  and  paying  mining  claims  would  wake  up  to 
find  them  covered  with  thousands  of  tons  of  rock  and 
earth.  Barney  Barnato,  who  had  secured  quite  a 
number  of  valuable  claims  in  the  Kimberley  pipe,  after 
visiting  England  and  establishing  the  firm  of  Barnato 
Bros,  in  London  as  diamond  dealers  and  financiers,  re- 
turned to  Kimberley  and  floated  them  into  a  company  of 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE    49 

£115,000  capital,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Barnato  Dia- 
mond Mining  Company."  In  1881,  he  floated  several 
other  companies.  The  time  and  conditions  were  ripe  for 
consolidation.  The  working  of  individual  claims  was 
fast  becoming  impractical;  there  was  an  undoubted  sup- 
ply of  diamonds,  and  times  were  booming  in  the  home 
countries  from  which  the  capital  must  come  for  large 
and  united  action. 

While  Barnato  was  doing  this  work  on  the  Kimberley, 
Cecil  John  Rhodes  was  similarly  at  work  on  the  De 
Beers,  three  miles  away.  In  the  same  year  he  there 
formed  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company.  There  were 
two  other  companies  on  the  De  Beers  chimney:  The 
De  Beers  Central,  and  the  Oriental.  The  claims  of 
these  companies  were  in  some  respects  more  favorably 
situated  than  those  of  Rhodes'  Company;  he  therefore 
worked  for  an  amalgamation  of  the  three,  and  suc- 
ceeded; first  absorbing  the  Central,  and  later  the 
Oriental,  so  that  his  mine,  the  De  Beers  Mining  Com- 
pany, practically  controlled  the  De  Beers  Chimney. 

On  the  Kimberley,  Barnato  continued  to  pursue  the 
policy  of  amalgamation  also,  gathering  into  one  com- 
pany known  as  the  Kimberley  Central,  every  claim  ex- 
cept those  owned  by  the  French  Company. 

While  these  two  men  were  working  on  parallel  lines 
near  together,  to  concentrate  power  by  the  seizure  of 
opportunities  which  the  evolution  of  natural  conditions 
offered,  the  one  as  part  of  a  grand  scheme  of  empire 
building,  the  other  with  the  sole  business  object  of 
money-making,  those  same  evolutions  gradually  con- 
verged their  ambitions  and  brought  them  in  contact,  and 
contact  was  necessarily,  war.  As  it  became  necessary 


'50  THE  DIAMOND 

to  merge  individual  ownerships  into  corporate  control, 
and  to  amalgamate  corporations  into  supreme  interests, 
separately  in  the  Kimberley  and  De  Beers,  so  also  it 
became  inevitable  that  the  two  great  fields  should  also 
be  merged,  and  Rhodes  sought  to  merge  the  whole  dia- 
mond-mining industry  into  the  De  Beers  Consolidated 
Mines,  a  company  whose  franchise  permitted  almost 
everything  but  the  functions  of  national  government. 
Barnato  wished  to  confine  the  interests  he  represented, 
to  the  mining  of  diamonds  and  the  profits  accruing,  with- 
out entering  into  the  liabilities  which  the  greater  scheme 
involved.  The  French  Company  was  the  clashing  point. 
The  two  interests  fought  long  and  hard,  and  finally 
compromised  by  passing  the  French  Company  into  the 
Kimberley  Central,  and  allowing  Rhodes  to  acquire  a 
large  interest  in  the  Central.  Rhodes  then  sought  to 
force  the  two  great  companies  to  merge,  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  obliging  the  Barnato  interests  to  agree  to  do 
so.  A  minority  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Kimberley 
Central,  however,  succeeded  in  getting  an  injunction 
restraining  the  merger,  on  the  grounds  that  The  De 
Beers  Consolidated  Mines,  on  account  of  its  extensive 
powers  beyond  that  of  diamond  mining,  was  not  a  com- 
pany for  the  same  or  similar  purposes  as  the  Central, 
which  was  a  company  formed  for  diamond  mining  only, 
and  whose  articles  of  association  permitted  the  com- 
pany to  amalgamate  only  with  another  company  of  the 
same  or  similar  purposes.  This  did  not  deter  Rhodes 
and  his  associates,  who  accomplished  their  object  by  the 
liquidation  of  the  Kimberley  Central  and  the  purchase  of 
all  its  property  and  assets  by  the  De  Beers  Consolida- 
tion, 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     51 

The  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines,  Limited,  was  or- 
ganized March  13,  1888,  with  a  nominal  capital  of 
£100,000  with  power  to  increase  it.  In  acquiring  the 
control  of  the  two  great  mines  and  the  various  com- 
panies which  had  been  operating  the  claims  into  which 
they  were  subdivided,  the  capital  stock  was  increased  to 
£3,950,000,  and  £2,225,000  was  borrowed  at  5^  per 
cent.  interest.  The  first  step  after  organization  was  to 
amalgamate  with  the  De  Beers  Mining  Company,  and 
the  scheme  was  carried  into  effect  March  31,  1888. 

The  Kimberley  Central  Company  then  passed  a  resolu- 
tion, August  7th,  to  amalgamate,  but  as  stated,  a  small 
minority,  by  securing  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
against  the  legality  of  such  a  proceeding,  prevented  the 
consummation  in  that  way,  so  January  29,  1889,  a 
resolution  was  passed  to  liquidate,  and  the  De  Beers 
Consolidated  bought  the  assets  of  the  Kimberley  Cen- 
tral Company,  paying  therefor  £5,300,000,  and  secured 
the  property,  A  paramount  interest  was  also  obtained 
in  the  Griqualand  West  Company  (Dutoitspan)  and 
the  Anglo-African  Company.  The  South  African 
Company  was  bought  for  £120,000.  The  Krauss  Bros, 
property  was  secured  for  £36,500,  and  a  perpetual  lease 
of  the  Bultfontein  Consolidated,  obtained.  Gardner  F. 
Williams,  in  "  The  Diamond  Mines  of  South  Africa," 
says  that,  in  all,  properties  costing  upwards  of  £14,000,- 
ooo  were  acquired. 

When  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company  was 
formed,  all  but  twenty-five  shares  of  its  stock  were 
held  by  four  men,  as  follows ;  Barnett  J.  Barnato,  6658 ; 
Alfred  Beit,  4439;  Cecil  J.  Rhodes,  4439;  F.  S.  P. 
Snow,  4439,  By  the  articles  of  association  they  were 


S2  THE  DIAMOND 

authorized  as  shareholders  to  create  "five  life  gov- 
ernors or  permanent  directors  of  the  Company,  four 
of  whom  shall  be  Cecil  John  Rhodes,  Barnett  Isaac 
Barnato,  Frederick  Samuel  Philipson  Snow  and  Alfred 
Beit."  These  four  or  their  survivors  had  the  power  by 
unanimous  resolution  to  appoint  the  fifth  and  to  fill 
vacancies.  They  were  the  first  directors  of  the  Com- 
pany and  had  power  to  appoint  others  until  the  share- 
holders at  the  first  ordinary  general  meeting  should 
decide  how  many  directors  there  should  be  in  addition 
to  the  life  governors,  and  elect  them.  In  this  way  four 
men  obtained  control  practically  of  the  diamond  trade 
of  the  world  and  placed  themselves  in  a  position  to 
exact  toll  from  the  millions  who  might  buy  the  most 
popular  gem  produced  by  Nature. 

The  first  annual  report  showed  the  wisdom  of  the 
consolidation,  and  justified  the  enormous  expense  en- 
tailed in  bringing  it  about.  It  has  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  most  ingeniously  contrived  and  strongly  intrenched 
methods  of  imposing  an  international  tax  for  private 
enrichment,  ever  devised.  In  the  absence  of  the  presi- 
dent, Cecil  John  Rhodes,  the  first  annual  report  was  pre- 
sented by  Barney  Barnato.  This  showed  a  profit  for 
the  year  of  £448,000,  notwithstanding  extraordinary 
expenses  of  several  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling, 
of  which  thirty  thousand  pounds  was  caused  by  a 
disastrous  fire,  and  a  half-yearly  dividend  of  ten  per 
cent,  was  declared.  The  fire  also  occasioned  a  loss  of 
the  produce  of  three  months'  work.  £85,435  was  made 
out  of  the  Kimberley  mine,  and  the  remainder  out  of 
the  De  Beers.  In  addition  to  this  the  stock  of  blue 
on  the  floors  of  the  Kimberley  and  the  De  Beers  was 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     53 

increased  to  786,000  loads;  worth,  after  deducting  the 
expense  of  washing,  £1,375,000,  and  there  were  100,000 
lumps,  of  an  estimated  value  of  £35,000.  At  that  time 
also,  it  was  stated,  there  were  in  sight  in  two  levels  in 
the  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  mines,  twelve  million  loads 
of  blue,  estimated  to  carry  sixteen  million  carats  of 
diamonds.  At  twenty-five  shillings  per  carat  that  would 
amount  to  £20,000,000,  though  it  was  not  the  intention 
of  the  management  to  sell  them  for  less  than  thirty 
shillings. 

Having  thus  successfully  consolidated  the  paying 
mines  of  the  Kimberley  and  adjacent  districts,  the  man- 
agement declared  it  to  be  their  policy  to  secure  a  con- 
trolling interest  in  all  others  outside  of  the  consolida- 
tion, to  prevent  an  entering  wedge  being  made  by  a 
foreign  company  who  might  endeavor  to  form  an 
amalgamation  sufficiently  strong  to  be  an  influence 
against  them,  either  in  the  diamond  or  the  stock 
market. 

Another  policy  was  inaugurated.  It  was  founded  on 
the  conviction  of  Mr.  Rhodes  that  diamonds  at  a  high 
and  advancing  price  would  be  in  greater  public  favor 
than  low-priced  diamonds,  and  the  policy  of  advancing 
the  price  and  restricting  the  output  to  the  demand,  was 
adopted. 

Barnato  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  diamond  pro- 
duction of  Africa  from  1873  to  1880  did  not  average 
above  one  to  one  and  a  half  million  carats  per  year. 
From  1883,  when  official  returns  began  to  be  kept,  the 
production  up  to  the  period  of  amalgamation  was  as 
follows : 


54  THE  DIAMOND 


1883  .........  2,319,234      carats  at  2os.  4^d.  £2,359,466 

1884  .........  2,264,786      carats  at  235.  2^d.  2,562,623 

1885  .........  2,287,261      carats  at  195.  5%d.  2,228,678 

1886  .........  3>°47>63924  carats  at  2  is.  6d.  3,261,574 

1887  .........  3,646,889      carats  at  22s.  i^d.  4,033,582 

1888  .........  3,565,780^4  carats  at  2os.  2l/2&.  3,608,217 

As  soon  as  the  consolidation  was  effected,  prices  were 
advanced.  By  the  middle  of  1889  the  product  was  sell- 
ing for  305.  per  carat,  which,  allowing  los.  for  the  cost 
of  production,  left  a  profit  of  66  per  cent. 

Although  in  1889,  Barnato  strongly  opposed  the  ship- 
ment of  the  diamonds  to  London  for  sale,  preferring  a 
local  market,  it  was  soon  thought  necessary  to  have  a 
purchaser  for  the  output  who  was  not  only  in  a  posi- 
tion to  gauge  the  public  demand,  but  whose  interests 
were  so  interwoven  with  the  mines  that  the  buyer  would, 
as  well  as  could,  properly  advise  the  seller  what  the 
product  should  be.  The  management  of  the  De  Beers 
Consolidated  therefore  formed  a  diamond  syndicate  for 
the  purchase  of  the  output  of  the  mines  and  the  sale 
of  it  in  London.  This  Syndicate  took  the  product  at 
a  stipulated  price  under  contracts  for  periods  ranging 
from  one  to  five  years.  This  may  have  been  a  good 
arrangement  for  the  De  Beers  Consolidated;  it  certainly 
was  a  very  profitable  one  for  those  interested,  and  af- 
forded a  means  of  squeezing  an  additional  profit  out  of 
the  public. 

In  accordance  with  the  policy  of  Mr.  Rhodes,  although 
Mr.  Barnato  at  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  De  Beers 
Consolidated  declared  that  they  did  not  intend  to  raise 
the  price  above  303,  per  carat,  it  was  steadily  increased 
by  the  diamond  Syndicate  to  the  cutters  and  later  at  the 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     55 

mines.     For  the  ten  years  from  1898  to  1907  the  price 
at  the  mines  was  as  follows : 

1898 283.    6.2d. 

1899 293.    7.2d. 

1900 355.  io.2d. 

1901 39s.    7d. 

1902 465.    57d. 

1903 485.    6.3d. 

1904 485.  n.8d. 

1905 525.  lod. 

1906 6is.    o.nd. 

1907 645.    Q.74d. 

The  yield  of  carats  per  load,  however,  fell  steadily. 
Whereas  Barnato  in  his  first  annual  report  after  the  con- 
solidation, reckoned  each  load  as  carrying  on  an  average 
one  and  three-eighths  carats,  the  yield  of  the  De  Beers 
and  Kimberley  in  1907  was  0.37  carats  per  load.  In  the 
first  year  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated,  the  average  was 
not  as  Barnato  estimated,  ify  carats,  but  1.15. 

Apparently  the  Diamond  Syndicate  advanced  the  price 
of  rough  to  the  cutters  as  much  and  as  rapidly  as  the 
prosperity  of  a  prospering  public  would  permit,  and  the 
mines  management  charged  themselves  as  the  Diamond 
Syndicate,  a  sufficient  advance  to  recoup  themselves  as 
stockholders,  for  the  decreasing  yield  per  load  and  con- 
sequent increase  of  cost  per  carat  of  production. 

During  the  years  of  world-wide  and  marvelous  pros- 
perity from  1889  to  1903,  the  De  Beers  Consolidated 
and  the  Diamond  Syndicate  controlled  the  African  out- 
put and  the  diamond  industry  of  the  world,  either  by 
the  control  of  the  mines  in  Africa,  or  the  purchase  by 
the  syndicate  of  the  product  of  such  small  mines  as 


56  THE  DIAMOND 

might  be  worked  under  independent  management.  But 
in  1904  an  infant  giant  appeared  on  the  scene.  The 
new  Premier  of  the  Transvaal,  a  company  organized 
by  T.  M.  Cullinan  with  a  capital  stock  of  £80,000,  began 
to  show  that  it  was  a  power  of  no  mean  order.  Nearly 
750,000  carats  were  taken  from  its  surface  workings 
that  year,  and  the  diamond-bearing  pipe  was  found  to 
be  nearly  as  large  as  the  four  Kimberley  mines  combined. 
In  1905  its  output  increased  to  nearly  850,000  carats;  in 
1906  to  nearly  900,000  and  in  1907  it  was  only  a  few 
carats  short  of  1,890,000.  In  this  year  also  another 
new  mine,  the  Voorspoed,  began  with  46,340  carats  for 
6  months.  All  told,  the  African  mines  produced  in  1907, 
5,002,968  carats,  of  which  not  much  over  half  was  from 
the  De  Beers  group.  In  1899  the  output  was  3,025,039 
and  in  1903,  before  the  Premier  came  in,  it  was  only 
2,607,024. 

Five  million  carats  proved  to  be  more  than  the  world 
could  absorb  in  one  year,  and  besides,  with  the  prospect 
of  uncontrollable  production,  more  than  the  proud  syn- 
dicate dare  hold  for  future  uses,  especially  as  in  the  fall 
of  that  year,  the  United  States,  by  far  the  largest  buyer 
of  diamonds,  after  passing  through  a  panic,  ceased 
buying. 

The  next  contract  between  the  Diamond  Syndicate 
and  the  De  Beers  expired  June  30,  1906.  It  had  been 
in  force  five  years.  The  De  Beers  management,  in  their 
annual  report  of  the  same  date,  stated  that  a  new  con- 
tract had  been  signed  for  a  similar  period  on  conditions 
still  more  advantageous.  The  exact  terms  of  these  con- 
tracts appear  never  to  have  transpired,  and  the  stock- 
holders of  the  De  Beers  Mines  did  not  know  just  what 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE    57 

terms  their  directors  made  with  themselves  in  their 
capacity  as  the  Diamond  Syndicate,  for  practically  they 
occupied  that  profitable  dual  position. 

At  some  time,  either  when  the  new  five-year  contract 
between  the  Syndicate  and  the  De  Beers  was  made,  or 
shortly  after,  the  Syndicate  must  have  been  convinced 
that  the  increasing  production  of  the  Premier  mine  was 
undermining  its  ability  to  maintain  prices,  .and  was 
forced  to  make  an  arrangement  with  its  dangerous  com- 
petitor whereby  it  agreed  to  market,  under  certain  con- 
ditions, the  Premier  diamonds  also.  The  Premier  Dia- 
mond Mining  Company  announced  from  its  head  office  in 
Johannesburg  on  October  24,  1907,  that  the  company 
had  made  definite  arrangements  for  the  sale  of  its  pro- 
duction to  the  Diamond  Syndicate,  similar  to  those 
granted  to  the  De  Beers.  Immediately  thereafter  came 
the  panic  in  the  United  States  and  the  instantaneous 
cessation  of  orders  from  the  world's  largest  consumer. 
That  the  Syndicate  at  once  endeavored  to  evade  or  defer 
some  of  its  responsibilities,  appears  certain  from  the 
tone  of  a  notice  sent  by  the  Premier  Company  to  its 
shareholders  January  15,  1908,  which  said,  "The  board 
hope  and  believe  that  the  depression  which  affects  trade 
will  shortly  be  replaced  by  a  more  normal  state  of  things 
so  as  to  enable  the  Diamond  Syndicate,  which  has  un- 
dertaken to  buy  until  March  next  the  production  of  the 
Company,  to  maintain  its  dealings  with  the  Company." 
In  the  report  of  the  Premier  Company  dated  January  25, 
1908,  occurs  the  following,  "  Certain  proposals  concern- 
ing the  quota  to  be  supplied  by  the  De  Beers  and  by  your 
company  have  been  settled,  and  the  first  period  of  the 
contract  dealing  with  the  sale  of  your  output  by  the 


58  THE  DIAMOND 

Syndicate  from  July,  1907,  to  February,  1908,  expires 
in  March  next." 

It  is  evident  from  the  facts,  that  the  Syndicate  was 
not  as  supposed,  a  bulwark  established  solely  to  protect 
the  mines  and  the  trade  from  the  encroachment  of  vari- 
able conditions  and  the  economic  principles  and  action 
of  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand  which  might  threaten 
the  stability  of  price,  but  a  Syndicate  of  private  interests 
formed  out  of  the  De  Beers  management  for  a  very 
profitable  handling  of  the  diamonds  after  the  mines  had 
made  one  big  profit  for  the  stockholders.  It  is  evident 
also  that  the  trade  can  expect  no  support  from  the  Syn- 
dicate except  when  it  is  profitable  to  the  Syndicate  to 
give  it. 

On  March  31,  1908,  the  Premier  mine,  being  dissatis- 
fied with  the  share  given  it  in  the  sales  (30  per  cent), 
withdrew  from  the  syndicate  arrangement,  and  became 
a  strong  competitor  with  the  hitherto  invincible  dictator 
of  the  diamond  market. 

As  the  Premier  is  the  largest  of  all  the  mines,  in 
order  to  realize  its  importance  as  a  factor  in  the  prob- 
lem now  to  be  solved,  of  how  further  to  hold  a  price 
for  a  thing  which  has  no  relation  whatever  to  the  cost 
of  production  and  the  natural  adjustments  of  supply 
and  demand,  a  few  facts  regarding  it  will  not  be  out 
of  place.  With  an  incalculable  supply  of  diamond 
ground,  it  is  erecting  a  plant  which  will  be  in  operation 
in  the  early  part  of  1909,  capable  of  treating  40,000  loads 
a  day.  The  average  yield  in  1907  was  0.289  carat  per 
load.  Reckoning  on  that  basis,  the  yield  would  be  nearly 
three  and  one-half  million  carats  of  diamonds  in  a  year. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  Voorspoed,  a  new  mine  not 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     59 

yet  in  full  working  order,  has  a  plant  about  completed, 
capable  of  washing  8,000  loads  a  day.  This  mine  will 
average  probably  one-fifth  of  a  carat  per  load,  or  about 
500,000  carats  for  the  year.  With  the  De  Beers  group 
and  other  independent  mines  turning  out  the  same  as  in 
1907,  these  new  mines  could  bring  the  total  output  to 
something  over  seven  million  carats,  an  increase  not 
much  greater  than  that  of  1908  over  1907,  which  was 
nearly  iy2  million  carats,  although  the  new  plants  of  the 
Premier  and  Voorspoed  mines  were  not  yet  in  opera- 
tion. 

Beyond  the  undoubted  ability  of  the  mines  now  in 
operation  to  produce  over  seven  million  carats  per  annum, 
or  nearly  three  times  the  quantity  which  can  be  safely 
thrown  upon  the  market,  it  is  rumored  that  there  are 
huge  quantities  of  diamond-bearing  earth  in  Rhodesia 
and  German  South  West  Africa,  and  probably  many 
other  rich  deposits  in  Griqualand,  the  Orange  River 
Colony,  and  the  Transvaal,  yet  uncovered.  The  dia- 
mond industry  has  a  problem  of  many  difficult  factors 
to  solve.  An  unlimited  supply  of  material  which  can 
be  marketed  in  limited  quantities  only,  and  which  can 
be  produced  at  a  cost  so  low  that  it  is  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  market  price  of  the  finished  product;  an 
arbitrary  value  which  is  a  stimulus  to  new  enterprises 
alien  to  the  combination  which  established  it,  and  a  com- 
modity which  loses  a  large  part  of  its  desirability  if  the 
price  of  it  is  lowered.  These  apparently  irreconcilable 
elements  make  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem 
extremely  difficult,  and  there  seems  to  be  but  one  finality, 
viz.,  a  return  to  the  regulation  of  output  and  price  by 
the  natural  law  of  supply  and  demand.  At  this  writing 


6o  THE  DIAMOND 

it  certainly  appears  impossible  for  the  Diamond  Syndi- 
cate as  it  is  now  constituted,  to  control  either  the  output 
or  the  price  of  diamonds,  and  whether  or  no  it  can  form 
a  new  and  still  greater  combination,  that  will  endure, 
with  the  new  interests  now  in  the  field,  is  questionable, 
for  as  long  as  prices  are  maintained  there  will  be  new 
developments,  any  of  which  could  in  the  beginning, 
while  working  in  open  cuts,  produce  at  less  cost  than 
the  older  mines  which  must  raise  the  material  from  un- 
derground workings. 

A  careful  estimate  made  from  the  official  records  of 
exports  from  Cape  Town,  from  the  time  when  the 
quantity  in  carats  was  first  recorded  to  1908  inclusive, 
together  with  the  estimate  of  men  who  were  familiar 
with  the  industry  in  South  Africa  prior  to  that  time, 
show  that  there  have  been  exported  from  Africa  through 
legitimate  channels,  from  the  discovery  of!  diamonds 
until  the  end  of  1908,  about  90,000,000  carats.  If  one 
adds  to  this  the  quantity  stolen,  which  in  the  early  years 
was  quite  large,  and  has  always  been  considerable,  and 
the  diamonds  mined  in  Brazil  and  elsewhere  during 
the  period,  100,000,000  carats  would  be  a  conserva- 
tive estimate  of  the  quantity  produced.  Of  this,  prob- 
ity 55  Per  cent-  was  suitable  for  cutting  to  jewels. 
Reckoning  a  loss  of  60  per  cent,  in  cutting,  the  addition 
to  the  world's  stock  of  diamonds  cut  as  jewels,  since  the 
discovery  of  the  African  mines,  would  be  about  22  mil- 
lion carats.  In  the  rough,  these 'probably  netted  to  the 
mines  $660,000,000,  to  which  must  be  added  the  pro- 
ceeds of  45,000,000  carats  of  bort  and  splinters  at  an 
average  of  $2  per  carat,  bringing  the  grand  total  to 


THE  MARCHIONESS  OF  LONDONDERRY 


GROWTH  OF  THE  DIAMOND  TRADE     61 

the  mines  of  $750,000,000.  Add  to  this  the  cost  of  cut- 
ting, the  profits  of  the  Syndicate,  cutters,  importers, 
jobbers,  and  retail  jewelers,  and  by  the  time  the  dia- 
mond product  of  the  world  since  the  opening  of  the 
mines  in  Africa  to  the  end  of  1908  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  consumer,  the  world  will  have  paid  not  less  than 
$2,000,000,000  to  possess  them.  These  are  conservative 
figures,  in  which  the  output  from  sources  outside  the 
African  mines  are  reckoned  at  much  less  than  is  gen- 
erally estimated. 

During  this  period  the  United  States  has  become  the 
largest  buyer  of  diamonds  in  the  world.  With  an  im- 
portation of  about  one  million  dollars  in  1867,  it  im- 
ported about  forty  million  dollars  in  1907,  a  forty  fold 
increase  in  forty  years.  So  great  has  been  the  consump- 
tion in  this  country,  that  numerous  cutting  shops  have 
been  established  here.  Beginning  with  small  shops  for 
repairing  and  re-cutting  stones,  the  demand  for  fine  work 
encouraged  cutters  to  cut  from  the  crystal,  and  the  im- 
portations of  rough  at  the  time  of  the  panic  had  reached 
an  average  of  nearly  one  million  dollars  per  month. 

Notwithstanding  the  depression  felt  at  present  in  the 
business  world,  the  importations  of  diamonds  into  the 
United  States  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1910, 
exceeded  that  of  any  previous  year,  and  the  importations 
of  August,  1910,  exceed  that  of  any  August  prior. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CELEBRATED    DIAMONDS 

THE  history  of  some  of  the  world's  celebrated  dia- 
monds is  founded  entirely  upon  tradition.  Elim- 
inate the  records  in  which  authorities  differ,  and  the 
stories  which  are  alike  attached  by  one  writer  to  one 
stone,  and  by  another  to  some  other  stone,  and  there  is 
little  left.  Some  stones  mentioned  in  old  writings  have 
passed  out  of  knowledge:  others  known  to-day  cannot 
be  traced  back  very  far  with  certainty :  a  point  is  soon 
reached  where  the  contradictory  accounts  given,  or  the 
similitude  of  the  story  to  that  attached  to  another, 
awaken  suspicion.  Historians  usually  insist  that  the 
great  diamonds  of  the  past  served  in  the  beginning  of 
their  history  as  eyes  for  an  idol  from  which  they  were 
plucked  by  some  knave  or  looter,  and  started  on  similar 
courses  of  adventures  until  they  arrived  at  the  hands 
of  definite  knowledge. 

The  most  ancient  and  celebrated  Indian  diamond  is 
known  as  the  Great  Mogul.  The  stone,  so  named  after 
the  Mogul  dynasty  in  India,  is  said  to  have  been  found 
in  the  mines  of  Kollur  of  India,  sometimes  spoken  of 
by  the  Persian  name  Gani  Coulour  or  Colore,  or  Gan-i- 
mine  of,  Coulour,  between  1630  and  1650,  and  pre- 
sented to  Shah  Jehan  by  Emir  Jemla  (called  "  Mirgi- 
mola"  by  Tavernier),  about  1655".  Another  tradition 
is  that  a  diamond  of  320  ratis  or  280  carats,  was  owned 

,62 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  63 

by  Babur,  founder  of  the  Mogul  dynasty,  and  was 
known  and  celebrated  of  old  in  India  before  his  time 
(1556).  The  English  mineralogist  Maskelyne  thought 
it  probable  that  this  was  the  stone  seen  by  Tavernier  at 
Delhi  in  1665  and  which  he  described  as  the  Great 
Mogul,  and  that  the  same  is  now  known  as  the  Koh-i- 
noor.  Hindu  tradition  says  of  this  stone  that  it 
was  worn  by  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Indian  epic  poem 
Mahabharata,  four  thousand  years  back,  and  that  it  was 
in  the  possession  of  Vikramaditya,  rajah  of  U  jay  in, 
56  B.  C,  through  whom  it  passed  to  his  successors,  the 
rajahs  of  Malwa  and  to  the  sultans  of  Delhi,  when 
Malwa  fell  into  their  hands.  In  1658,  Aurungzebe, 
third  son  of  Shah  Jehan,  seized  the  reins  of  government, 
placed  his  father  in  confinement  and  possessed  his 
treasures,  the  "  Great  Mogul "  among  them.  In  the 
rough,  as  it  was  when  presented  to  Shah  Jehan,  Taver- 
nier says  it  weighed  900  ratis  or  787^  carats.  The 
Mogul  employed  a  Venetian  named  Hortensis  Borghis  to 
cut  it.  This  he  did  so  unskill fully  as  to  reduce  the 
weight  to  319^  ratis  or  280  carats.  Some  writers  dis- 
pute Tavernier's  equivalent  of  %  carat  to  one  rati, 
claiming  that  the  rati  was  lighter  and  that  the  cut  stone 
weighed  188  carats  only.  Instead  of  rewarding  the  cutter 
for  his  work,  the  Mogul,  angered,  charged  him  with 
spoiling  the  stone  and  threatened  to  kill  him,  but 
finally  let  him  off  with  a  fine  of  ten  thousand  rupees. 
According  to  Tavernier,  from  whom  comes  to  us 
all  the  definite  information  we  have  about  it,  the  stone 
in  the  rough  had  several  flaws,  and  was  cut  to  a  round 
rose,  very  high  on  one  side,  and  now  thought  to  be 
almost  identical  in  shape  with  the  Orloff  of  the  Russian 


64  THE  DIAMOND 

Crown  jewels.  In  another  place  Ta vernier  gives  the 
original  rough  weight  at  967  ratis  or  793^  carats,  and 
wfien  cut,  as  he  saw  jt^5'i9/4  ratis  or  2799/16  carats, 
and  the  form  of  it  ifhat  of  an  egg  cut  in  half.  The 
finished  stone  had  a  crack  or  notch  in  the  lower  edge, 
and  a  little  flaw  within.  The  French  jeweler  saw  it 
at  the  palace  of  the  king  in  Delhi  on  the  second  of 
November,  1665.  Summoned  by  5  or  6  officers  to  ap- 
pear at  the  palace,  he  was  conducted  into  the  royal 
presence.  The  chief  keeper  of  jewels,  Akel  Khan,  then 
at  the  king's  command,  ordered  four  eunuchs  to  bring 
the  jewels  for  his  inspection.  The  "  Great  Mogul,"  he 
found  to  be  of  good  water,  and  he  estimated  the  value 
to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  twelve  million  francs. 
Western  knowledge  of  the  stone  ceases  at  this  point. 
Many  theories  have  been  advanced,  but  none  of  them 
are  founded  upon  evidence  sufficient  to  give  reasonable 
certainty  of  its  present  existence.  Some  think  that  it  is 
in  the  possession  of  one  of  the  Hindu  princes;  others 
surmise  that  it  is  among  the  crown  jewels  of  Persia; 
many  think  it  is  identical  with  the  Orloff,  or  the  Koh-i- 
noor. 

Another  large  stone  mentioned  by  Tavernier  which 
has  been  lost  to  general  knowledge,  is  recorded  as  "  The 
Great  Diamond  Table."  Tavernier  saw  it  in  Golconda 
in  1642,  and  said  it  was  the  largest  he  saw  in  private 
hands  while  in  India.  It  was  offered  for  sale  to  him 
for  500,000  rupees  or  750,000  livres.  He  took  a  casting 
of  it,  and  sent  that  to  two  friends  at  Surat,  who  com- 
missioned him  to  offer  400,000  rupees  for  it  if  the  stone 
was  clean  and  of  fine  water.  The  offer  was  refused, 
and  nothing  further  is  known  of  it.  The  weight  as 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  65 

given  by  Tavernier  was  176^  mangelins  or  2423/ie 
carats.  The  mangelin  was  a  weight  used  in  the  King- 
dom of  Golconda  and  Visapur,  and  equaled  i^s  carats. 
As  his  instructions  to  make  an  offer  for  it,  were  on  the 
condition  that  the  stone  was  flawless  and  of  good  color, 
and  he  did  make  the  offer,  it  was  probably  a  fine  stone. 

The  Orlofr"  or  Orlow,  so  named  because  purchased  by 
Prince  or  Count  Orlow  for  Empress  Catherine  II,  is 
the  most  renowned  of  the  crown  jewels  of  Russia.  It 
is  now  the  chief  ornament  of  the  imperial  scepter,  being 
placed  immediately  under  the  golden  eagle  and  is  there- 
fore sometimes  called  the  "  Scepter."  The  weight  is 
given  as  193  carats  by  Louis  Dieulefait;  Max  Bauer 
says  194^4  carats.  Prof.  Maskelyne,  who  carefully 
examined  it,  was  of  the  decided  opinion  that  it  was  an 
Indian  cut  stone,  being  rose-faceted  after  the  Hindu 
fashion.  It  is  about  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  has  the 
form  of  half  an  egg,  and  has  a  slightly  yellow  tinge, 
Maskelyne  says.  Bauer  says  nothing  of  the  color  but 
describes  it  as  of  the  finest  water,  greatest  luster  and 
perfectly  clean.  Some  writers  say  it  is  the  "  Koh-i- 
Tur,"  or  "  Mount  Sinai/'  which  was  one  of  the  eyes  of 
the  peacock  over  the  Takt-i-Taus  or  Peacock  Throne  of 
Aurungzebe,  and  that  the  Koh-i-noor  was  the  other 
eye.  Other  writers  claim  that  it  was  one  of  the  eyes 
of  a  statue  of  Brahma  in  a  temple  on  the  fortified 
(Engl.)  Island  of  Seringham  which  is  formed  by  the 
junction  of  the  river  Cavery  in  Maysur  (Mysore)  with 
its  branch  the  Colerine,  and  is  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Trichinopolis.  As  the  story  goes,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  a  soldier  of  the  French  garrison 

in  India  plotted  to  rob  the  idol  of  his  precious  eyes.     Pre- 
5 


66  THE  DIAMOND 

tending  great  zeal  in  seeking  a  knowledge  of  the  Hindu 
religion,  he  succeeded  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  the 
priests  in  charge,  and  though  the  temple  with  its  lofty 
towers,  gilded  cupola,  pagoda,  seven  enclosures,  and 
Brahman  dwellings,  was  jealously  guarded,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  wall  four  miles  in  circumference,  he  se- 
cured one  of  the  stones,  and,  eluding  the  vigilant  guard- 
ians of  the  temple,  fled  with  it  to  Madras.  The  other 
eye  he  could  not  force  from  the  socket.  Arrived  there, 
he  is  said  to  have  sold  it  for  £2,000  to  a  captain  in  the 
British  navy  (some  say  an  English  sea  captain),  who 
carried  it  to  London  and  sold  it  to  a  Jewish  merchant  for 
£12,000.  This  is  said  to  have  occurred  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eighteenth  century.  Nothing  more  is 
recorded  of  this  diamond,  but  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
century,  a  similar  stone  was  sold  to  Count  Orloff  for 
the  Empress  Catherine  of  Russia  for  1,400,000  Dutch 
gulden,  or  about  $560,000.  Bauer  gives  the  date  of  the 
sale  as  1791,  and  in  common  with  other  writers  assumes 
it  to  be  the  same  stone.  Streeter  gives  the  following 
from  Boyle  in  Museum  Britanicum  (London,  1791), 
who  quotes  from  a  letter  from  the  Hague  under  date  of 
January  2,  1776.  "We  learn  from  Amsterdam  that 
Prince  Orlow  made  but  one  day  stay  in  that  city,  where 
be  bought  a  very  large  brilliant  for  the  Empress,  his  sov- 
ereign, for  which  he  paid  to  a  Persian  merchant  there, 
the  sum  of  1,400,000  florins  Dutch  money."  As  Or- 
loff was  Catherine's  lover  at  the  time  she  became  Em- 
press in  1762,  and  Potemkin,  who  became  her  favorite 
in  1765,  did  not  lose  a  controlling  influence  over  her  un- 
til he  died  in  1791,  it  is  possible  that  the  purchase  of 
what  is  known  as  the  Orloff  diamond  occurred  in  1775, 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  67 

according  to  the  letter  of  January  2,  1776,  quoted  by 
Boyle.  Orloff  may,  however,  have  consummated  both 
purchases.  There  appears  to  be  no  positive  evidence 
as  to  which  of  the  two  large  stones  purchased  by  Russia 
in  1775  and  1791  was  the  Orloff,  or  to  which  of  them 
the  story  of  the  French  soldier  rightfully  belongs.  The 
early  history  of  these  stones  is  so  beclouded  by  the  in- 
ventions of  thievery  and  knavery  that  very  little  said 
about  them  is  reliable. 

Since  then,  writers  have  confused  the  early  histories 
of  these  two  large  stones  of  the  Russian  crown  jewels, 
confounding  the  weights,  prices,  and  stories  connected 
with  them,  beyond  disentanglement.  The  other  stone 
is  said  to  weigh  120  carats  and  to  be  also  now  among 
the  Russian  crown  jewels.  It  was  known  as  the  "  Moon 
of  the  Mountain,"  and  was  taken  with  other  loot  from 
Delhi  by  Nadir  Shah.  At  his  murder,  this  diamond 
with  other  jewels  was  stolen  by  an  Afghan  soldier,  and 
sold  by  him  to  an  Armenian  merchant,  Shaffras.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  one  of  two  large  stones  which  orna- 
mented Nadir's  throne.  One  circumstantial  account 
says  that  the  Afghan  took  it  with  other  jewels  to  Bas- 
sorah,  a  large  town  on  the  Shatt-al-Arab,  70  miles  from 
its  mouth  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  he  offered  them  for 
sale  to  Shaffras,  who  resided  there  with  two  brothers. 
Shaffras  put  him  off  until  he  could  raise  the  money  with 
which  to  buy  them.  This  frightened  the  Afghan,  who 
fled  to  Bagdad  and  sold  them  there  for  sixty-five  thou- 
sand piasters  (£500),  and  began  a  debauch.  Shaffras 
came  to  Bagdad,  and  finding  the  jewels  sold,  tried  un- 
successfully to  buy  the  big  diamond  of  the  Jew  who  had 
it.  He  and  his  brother  thereupon  murdered  the  Jew  and 


68  THE  DIAMOND 

the  Afghan,  and  putting  them  in  a  sack,  at  night  threw 
them  into  the  Tigris.  In  a  dispute  over  a  division  of 
the  booty,  Shaffras  slew  his  brother  and  disposed  of 
him  in  a  similar  manner.  He  then  went  to  Constan- 
tinople, and  from  there  traveled  through  Europe.  Cath- 
erine II  invited  him  to  bring  the  diamond  to  Russia, 
and  he  was  placed  in  communication  with  M.  Lasaroff, 
the  crown  jeweler,  who  offered  an  annuity  of  ten  thou- 
sand roubles  and  a  patent  of  nobility.  This  he  refused 
and  asked  six  hundred  thousand  roubles  cash  for 
it.  No  sale  was  made  at  that  time,  and  ten  years  later, 
the  Russian  Court,  learning  that  he  was  in  Astrakhan, 
reopened  negotiations  and  a  sale  was  made  on  the 
original  terms. 

Another  account  published  in  London,  1812,  of 
"  Travels  through  the  southern  provinces  of  the  Russian 
Empire  in  1793-4,"  by  P.  S.  Pallas,  says  that  the  trav- 
eler during  a  residence  in  Astrakhan  became  acquainted 
with  the  heirs  of  Gregori  Safarov  Shaffras,  who  sold 
the  diamond  now  in  the  Russian  scepter.  They  told  a 
similar  story  about  the  stolen  jewels,  but  said  that  Shaf- 
fras followed  the  Afghan  chief  to  Bagdad,  and  bought 
them  direct  from  him  for  fifty  thousand  piasters.  After 
twelve  years,  Gregori,  with  the  consent  of  his  brother, 
carried  the  diamond  on  his  travels  west  as  described, 
and  the  Russian  Court  invited  him  to  bring  the  diamond 
to  Russia  for  inspection.  Count  Panin,  the  Russian 
Minister,  he  who  was  tutor  of  Catherine's  son  Paul  and 
assisted  in  the  overthrow  of  her  husband  Peter,  offered 
him  five  hundred  thousand  roubles,  one-fifth  on  demand 
and  the  balance  by  regular  installments  during  ten  years, 
a  patent  of  hereditary  nobility,  and  a  pension  of  six 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  69 

thousand  roubles.  As  Shaffras  demanded  patents  for 
his  brothers  also,  the  diamond  was  returned  to  him.  He 
absconded  to  Astrakhan,  but  later  reopened  negotiations 
with  Count  Gregori  Gregorivitch  Orloff,  and  sold  it  for 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  roubles,  of  which  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  went  for  commissions 
and  expenses,  and  a  patent  of  nobility. 

Bauer  says  this  transaction  occurred  in  1775  and  that 
the  consideration  was  450,000  roubles,  a  pension  of 
4,000  roubles  and  a  patent  of  nobility. 

Dieulafait  says  the  stone  was  sent  by  Shaffras  to  his 
brother  in  Amsterdam  who,  after  twelve  years  and  long 
negotiations,  sold  it  to  Russia  for  $334,800  and  a  patent 
of  nobility. 

It  is  evident  from  these  accounts  that  there  is  no  cer- 
tain knowledge  about  either  of  the  transactions.  Be- 
yond the  facts  that  Count  Orloff  bought  a  large  diamond 
in  Amsterdam  in  1775  and  that  Shaffras  sold  a  large  dia- 
mond to  Russia,  the  stories  are  open  to  question  through- 
out. 

All  we  really  know  about  the  Great  Mogul  is  that 
Ta vernier  saw  it  in  Delhi  in  1665.  Delhi  was  sacked  in 
1739  and  the  loot  carried  off  by  Nadir  Shah,  the  Mogul 
probably  being  among  it.  In  1747  Nadir  was  assas- 
sinated, and  a  number  of  his  large  jewels  were  stolen 
by  Afghans,  who  were  his  favored  personal  attendants. 
Some  years  later  two  large  India  cut  stones  appeared  in 
Europe  with  confused  histories  of  romance,  one  of  them 
similar  to  Tavernier's  description  of  the  Great  Mogul, 
and  were  sold  between  1775  and  1791  to  the  Russian 
Crown  for  large  prices,  the  exact  amount  being  un- 
known, though  variously  stated  in  definite  figures.  One 


7o  THE  DIAMOND 

of  these  is  the  Orloff,  and  the  Orloff  is  probably  the 
Great  Mogul. 

Linked  by  tradition  with  the  Great  Mogul  and  the 
Orloff,  is  the  Koh-i-noor  of  the  British  Crown  jewels. 
This  is  one  of  the  diamonds  taken  from  Delhi  by  Nadir 
Shah  when  he  destroyed  the  Kingdom  of  the  Mogul  in 
1739.  It  is  said  that  Mohammed  Shah,  great-grandson 
of  Aurung-zebe,  wore  it  in  his  turban  when  Nadir  took 
possession  of  the  Mogul's  city,  and  that  the  latter  with 
the  polite  insistence  of  a  conqueror,  compelled  an  ex- 
change of  turbans  as  a  mark  of  his  friendly  intentions 
toward  the  victim's  person.  Later,  Ahmed  Shah, 
founder  of  the  Abdali  dynasty  at  Cabul,  took  it  from 
Shahrikh,  a  young  son  of  Nadir.  It  descended  from 
him  to  Shah  Shu j  ah  and  was  worn  by  him  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Mr.  Elphinstone  while  he  was  British  envoy  to 
the  King  of  Kabul  at  Peshawar  in  1808.  Shah  Shujah, 
when  driven  from  Kabul,  became  the  guest  and  prisoner 
of  Runjeet  Singh,  chief  of  the  Sikhs,  who  in  1813  com- 
pelled him  to  resign  the  diamond,  but  in  return  pre- 
sented him  with  a  lakh  and  twenty-five  thousand  rupees, 
or  about  sixty  thousand  dollars.  It  is  said  that  while 
Runjeet  Singh  lay  dying,  an  attempt  was  made  to  have 
him  present  it  to  Jaganath.  He  assented  by  a  nod,  but 
the  treasurer  would  not  give  it  up  on  that,  and  Runjeet 
Singh  died  before  a  written  order  could  be  signed  by 
him.  It  was  worn  by  his  successors,  Rhurreuk  Singh 
and  Shir  Singh.  After  the  murder  of  Shir  Singh,  it 
remained  in  the  Lahore  treasury  until  the  time  of  Dhu- 
lip  Singh  and  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  by  the  Brit- 
ish in  1849.  As  per  stipulation  made  then,  the  state 
property  was  confiscated  to  the  East  India  Company  in 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  71 

part  payment  of  debt  due  to  it  by  the  Lahore  govern- 
ment, with  a  proviso  that  the  Koh-i-noor  should  be  pre- 
sented to  Queen  Victoria.  It  was  taken  in  charge  by 
Lord  Dalhousie,  who  sent  it  to  England  in  the  custody 
of  two  officers.  It  was  taken  from  Bombay,  April  6, 
1850,  surrendered  to  the  officials  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany in  London,  July  2,  and  on  the  following  day  pre- 
sented to  Queen  Victoria. 

The  Koh-i-noor  weighed  at  that  time  i86j4  carats. 
(Various  weights  are  given,  varying  from  180  1/16  to 
i86j^  carats.)  It  was  rose  cut  above,  with  a  large 
cleavage  plane  underneath,  and  a  smaller  one  on  the  side. 
It  had  several  flaws,  and  when  exhibited  at  the  great 
Exhibition  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  London,  in  1851,  was 
valued  at  $700,000. 

In  1852,  the  Koh-i-noor  was  recut  to  brilliant  form. 
The  cutting  was  entrusted  to  Costar  of  Amsterdam,  the 
work  being  done  by  Mr.  Voorsanger.  It  took  thirty- 
eight  days  of  twelve  hours  each,  and  is  said  to  have  cost 
£8,000.  The  work  was  finished  September  7.  The 
stone  is  not  of  the  finest  color  or  quality,  having  a  gray- 
ish tinge,  and  it  is  too  shallow  to  give  the  angles  of  re- 
flection necessary  for  full  interior  brilliancy.  The 
weight  is  now  106%  carats.  A  model  of  it  is  exhibited 
among  the  Crown  jewels  and  regalia  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  but  the  diamond  is  in  Windsor  Castle.  Both 
the  Prince  Consort  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  are 
credited  by  various  writers  with  having  placed  it  upon 
the  wheel  in  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  re-cutting. 

One  of  the  finest  and  best  known  of  the  large  Indian 
stones  which  have  been  brought  to  Europe,  is  the  "  Re- 
gent"  or  "Pitt."  The  first  name  was  given  to  it  be- 


72  THE  DIAMOND 

cause  it  was  bought  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans  while  Re- 
gent of  France  during  the  minority  of  Louis  XV;  the 
latter,  because  it  was  bought  in  India  and  owned  for 
some  years  by  Gov.  Pitt,  grandfather  of  William  Pitt, 
first  Earl  of  Chatham.  It  is  said  also  that  in  India 
it  was  called  "  Milliona."  The  supposition  is  that 
the  stone  was  found  in  the  diggings  of  Parteal 
or  Gani-Parteal  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Kistnah 
about  forty-five  leagues  south  of  Golconda,  in  1701. 
Some  say  that  it  was  found  in  a  street  of  Malacca. 
There  is  a  story  that  it  was  stolen  from  the  mines  by 
one  of  the  diggers,  who  managed  to  escape  with  it. 
No  good  evidence  exists  of  the  truth  of  either  of  these 
statements.  The  stone  first  comes  to  our  knowledge 
through  the  statements  regarding  it,  made  by  Gov. 
Pitt,  and  though  insinuations  were  circulated  about  his 
veracity,  and  suspicions  aroused  at  that  time  as  to  the 
methods  by  which  he  obtained  it,  no  proof  was  given 
that  he  had  acted  dishonorably,  and  he  held  unchal- 
lenged possession  for  a  number  of  years  before  it  was 
sold  for  his  account  finally  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans. 

At  that  time  diamonds  were  used  largely  in  India  as  a 
means  of  remittance  to  England,  and  Pitt,  who  was  gov- 
ernor of  Fort  George,  sent  many  to  England.  It  appears 
also  from  the  researches  of  Colonel  Henry  Yule,  C.  B., 
who  was  an  Oriental  scholar  and  president  of  the  Hak- 
luyt  Society  ("  Some  Famous  Diamonds"  by  Alexander 
Japp,  LL.D.,  F.  R.  S.  E.),  that  Gov.  Pitt  also  had  a  com- 
mission from  one  Sir  Stephen  Evance  of  London  to  find 
large  fine  gems,  for  Pitt  wrote  him  from  Madras, 
October  18,  1701,  that  there  were  two  or  three  large  dia- 
monds "  up  in  the  Countrey "  but  that  "  they  ask  soe 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  73 

excessive  Dear  for  such  Stones  that  'tis  Dangerous  med- 
ling  with  'em."     November  6th  he  wrote  the   Knight 
again,  enclosing  the  model  of  a  stone  he  had  lately  seen 
which  he  described  thus:"  Itt  weighs  Mang.  303  and  car- 
atts  426.     It  is  of  an  excellent  christaline  water  without 
fowles,  onely  att  one  end  in  the  flat  part  there  is  one  or 
two  little  flaws  which  will  come  out  in  cutting,  they  ly- 
ing on  the  surface  of  the  stone,  the  price  they  ask  for  it  is 
prodigious,  being  two  hundred  thousand  pags :  tho'  I  be- 
lieve less  than  one  (hundred  thousand)  would  buy  it." 
He  then  speaks  of  it  as  superior  to  any  diamond  known, 
asks  the  Knight  to  keep  the  matter  private,  and  to  give 
him  his  opinion.     Under  date  of  August   i,   1702,   Sir 
Stephen  Evance  acknowledged  receipt  of  the  letter  and 
model,  but  wrote  discouragingly,  saying  that  on  account 
of  the  war,  the  French  King  had  his  hands  and  heart 
full  and  as  "  There  is  noe  Prince  in  Europe  can  buy  itt, 
soe  would  advise  you  not  to  meddle  in  itt."     Pitt  bought 
it  however,  and  later  describes  the  transaction  while  de- 
fending himself  against  the  insinuations  made  by  some 
of  his  colleagues  and  Surapa,  a  black  merchant,  that  he 
had  obtained  possession  of  it  unfairly.     According  to 
this  account,  Jaurchund,  an  eminent  merchant  in  those 
parts,  brought  to  him  about  December,    1701,   a  large 
rough  diamond  about  305   mangelins,   and  some  small 
ones.     Mr.  Pitt  and  others  bought  the  smaller  ones,  but 
he  was  afraid  to  venture  upon  the  large  one,  for  which 
he  says  Jaurchund  asked  200,000  pagodas,  but  for  which 
he  was  not  inclined  to  offer  over  30,000  pagodas.     After 
a  few  days  the  merchant  took  it  away.     He  returned 
about  February  and  tried  again  to  sell  it  to  him,  finally 
lowering  his  price  to  100,000  pagodas  without  success. 


74  THE  DIAMOND 

They  then  agreed  to  meet  upon  a  certain  day  about  the 
end  of  February  or  the  beginning  of  March,  and  settle 
the  matter  finally.  In  the  discussion  at  that  time,  the 
dealer  dropped  to  55,000  pagodas,  and  the  governor 
raised  his  offer  to  45,000,  when  they  parted.  About  an 
hour  after,  Jaurchund  and  Vincatee  Chittee,  who  gen- 
erally accompanied  him,  returned,  and  after  a  further 
encounter  of  wits  they  closed  the  trade  at  48,000  pago- 
das. 

It  further  appears  by  a  letter  of  Pitt  to  Sir  Stephen 
Evance  of  February  3,  1702,  that  he  sent  the  diamond 
to  Sir  Evance,  by  the  Loyall  Cooke,  to  act  for  him  in  the 
cutting  and  disposal  of  it,  giving  as  his  opinion  that  it 
should  be  made  into  one  stone.  The  great  diamond 
caused  quite  a  stir  in  London,  and  was  talked  of  as  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  but  general  conditions  were 
such  that  a  buyer  could  not  be  found.  Pitt's  estimate 
of  the  value  of  it  had  increased  considerably  since  he  ac- 
quired it,  for  writing  to  Sir  Stephen  Evance  and  his  son 
Robert  in  1704,  at  which  time,  from  the  tenor  of  his 
letter,  it  must  have  been  in  process  of  cutting,  he  says 
he  "  would  not  have  it  sold  (unless  it  be  for  a  trifle)  less 
than  fifteen  hundred  pound  a  caratt." 

These  and  the  years  following  were  troublous  times 
for  the  Governor.  Reports  which  reflected  upon  his 
acquisition  of  the  stone  were  circulated;  he  was  evi- 
dently suspicious  of  his  agents  in  London,  and  so  much 
of  his  private  means  was  invested  in  it,  that  he  felt  the 
future  of  himself  and  family  depended  upon  its  disposal. 
From  memoranda  left  by  Philip,  second  Earl  Stanhope, 
a  grandson  of  Pitt,  it  was  cut  by  Harris  at  an  expense 
of  £6,000,  and  the  chips  were  valued  at  £10,000.  The 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  7$ 

weight  is  given  as  128  carats  after  cutting,  but  as  in  the 
inventory  of  the  French  Jewels  made  by  order  of  the 
National  Assembly  in  1791,  the  weight  is  recorded  as 
136  13/i6  carats,  the  weights  used  must  have  varied  then, 
as  those  of  different  countries  do  now. 

After  many  negotiations,  and  by-play  which  undoubt- 
edly included  some  fighting  over  commissions,  for  nobles 
were  expert  chapmen  in  those  days  apparently,  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  bought  the  diamond  for  the  Crown  jewels  of 
France,  which  meant  then  for  Louis  XV,  against  his 
accession,  for  two  million  livres  (at  that  date  is.  4d.  was 
about  the  value  of  a  livre).  The  terms  were  £40,000 
(sterling)  to  be  deposited  in  England  before  the  stone 
was  sent  to  France,  as  part  payment,  of  which  £5,000 
was  to  be  forfeited  if  the  sale  was  not  consummated  on 
its  arrival  there.  Governor  Pitt,  accompanied  by  his  two 
sons,  Lord  Londonderry  and  Mr.  John  Pitt,  and  his  son- 
in-law,  Mr.  Cholmondeley,  took  the  diamond  over  to 
Calais,  and  was  met  there  by  the  King's  jeweler  ap- 
pointed to  inspect  and  receive  it.  As  security  for  the 
balance  of  the  purchase  price,  he  gave  them  several  boxes 
of  jewels,  belonging  to  the  Crown  of  France,  above  the 
£40,000  already  deposited,  and  agreed  to  pay  the  re- 
mainder in  three  installments  at  periods  agreed  upon. 
This  amount  was  never  paid,  though  the  French  govern- 
ment admitted  the  debt  when  the  children  of  Governor 
Pitt  claimed  it,  but  pronounced  it  impossible  to  assume 
the  past  obligations  of  the  Regent.  The  exact  amount 
realized  is  therefore  unknown,  as  no  evidence  exists  as  to 
the  value  of  the  jewels  pledged. 

The  Regent  was  prominent  with  the  Mazarins  in  the 
circlet  of  the  Crown  made  by  Ronde,  jeweler  to  the  King, 


76  THE  DIAMOND 

for  the  coronation  of  Louis  XV  in  1722.  At  the  in- 
ventory made  by  order  of  the  French  National  Assem- 
bly in  1791  and  drawn  up  in  August,  1792,  the  value  of 
the  Regent  was  estimated  at  12  million  francs.  It  was 
deposited  with  the  other  jewels  at  the  Garde-Meuble,  and 
the  sale  of  them  was  ordered  by  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly. During  the  anarchy  which  followed  the  September 
massacres,  the  bulk  of  the  jewels,  including  the  Regent 
and  the  Sancy,  disappeared.  Many  of  them  were  re- 
covered, the  Regent  being  found  twelve  months  later  in 
a  cabaret  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  Voulland  for 
the  Committee  of  Public  Security  appearing  before  the 
Convention  on  December  10,  1793,  to  report  the  fact. 
It  was  discovered  in  a  hole  made  in  the  timber-work  of 
a  garret. 

In  1796  the  Regent  was  pledged  to  German  bankers 
as  security  for  the  cost  of  horse-furniture,  and  was  re- 
deemed in  1797.  It  was  pawned  again  in  1798  with  the 
banker  Vandenberg  of  Amsterdam,  for  money  to  buy 
more  horse- furniture  for  the  army  of  Italy.  First  Con- 
sul Bonaparte  redeemed  it  in  1802,  and  in  1804,  at  his 
coronation  as  Emperor,  wore  it  in  the  pommel  of  his 
sword.  The  French  jewels  were  carried  off  to  Blois  in 
1814  by  Marie  Louise,  but  returned  to  Louis  XVIII  by 
her  father,  the  Emperor  Francis.  Louis  XVIII  took 
them  with  him  on  his  flight  to  Ghent  on  the  night  of 
March  20,  1815,  but  brought  them  back  at  the  restora- 
tion. They  were  reset  on  the  accession  of  Charles  X, 
and  remounted  several  times  between  1854  and  1870. 
In  August  of  the  latter  year  they  were  deposited  in  a 
sealed  box  with  the  Governor  of  the  Bank  of  France, 
and  verified  in  1875  by  a  parliamentary  commission.  In 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  77 

accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  French  Chamber  in 
October,  1886,  a  number  of  the  jewels  were  sold,  but  the 
Regent  remains  to  this  date  in  the  possession  of  the 
French  Government. 

Pope's  lines  in  "  Moral  Essays," 

"  Asleep  and  naked  as  an  Indian  lay 

An  honest  factor  stole  a  gem  away : 

He  pledged  it  to  the  Knight,  the  knight  had  wit, 

So  kept  the  diamond,  and  the  rogue  was  bit," 

were  thought  to  be  a  reflection  of  the  scandals  concern- 
ing this  stone  in  Pitt's  time.  It  is  said  the  last  line  in 
the  poet's  MSS.  ran, 

"  So  robbed  the  robber  and  was  rich  as  P — ." 

Colonel  Yule,  from  whose  writings  these  accounts 
are  gathered,  considered  Thomas  Pitt's  character  com- 
pletely vindicated,  and  that  his  very  solemn  assevera- 
tions, that  there  was  nothing  unrighteous  on  his  part 
in  the  transaction,  were  entitled  to  credence. 
i  In  an  account  of  the  origin  and  sale  of  this  diamond 
to  the  Regent  of  France,  Saint  Simon  ignores  Pitt,  in- 
timates that  Law  solicited  his  influence  in  the  matter, 
and  credits  himself  with  securing  a  promise  from  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  to  buy  it.  He  also  attaches  the  cus- 
tomary story  of  a  thief  having  stolen  it  at  the  mines  in 
India  and  escaping  with  it  to  Europe.  A  perusal  of 
ancient  accounts  of  diamond  transactions  awakens  a  sus- 
picion that  all  the  vulgar  tricks  of  the  trade  to-day  were 
known  and  practiced  in  much  coarser  form  then,  among 
men  whose  names  history  has  engraved  among  the  great 
and  noble.  The  Regent  is  a  square  cut  brilliant. 


78  THE  DIAMOND 

Another  diamond  which  has  long  been  celebrated,  and 
to  which  has  been  gathered  the  legends  and  adventures 
of  several  others  that  have  borne  the  same  name,  is  the 
Sancy.  It  is  described  as  pear-shaped  and  brilliant  cut. 
Upon  attempting  to  gather  from  records  a  true  account 
of  this  stone,  the  historian  is  confronted  by  such  a  mass 
of  contradictory  statements  that  the  task  becomes  at 
once  hopeless.  The  writers  have  evidently  gathered 
a  statement  here  and  another  there,  often  oblivious  of 
the  fact,  while  piecing  them  together,  that  those  state- 
ments, from  the  nature  of  them,  must  have  referred  to 
different  stones.  These  patchwork  histories  have  been 
copied  by  other  writers,  sometimes  with  the  addition  of 
a  chance  item  picked  up  accidentally  in  some  other 
quarter;  sometimes  they  are  shorn  of  striking  inaccu- 
racies and  rounded  out  with  new  suppositions  to  make 
the  story  readable  or  more  probable.  In  either  case 
reflection  is  forced  upon  the  reader,  that  if  the  same 
has  occurred  in  the  records  we  have  of  men  and  events, 
our  knowledge  of  the  past  is  more  in  the  nature  of  a 
composite  photograph  than  a  series  of  definite  likenesses. 

There  are  but  two  things  about  the  Sancy  upon  which 
writers  agree,  viz. :  that  the  first  known  owner  was 
Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  that  later  it 
came  into  possession  of  Nicholas  de  Early,  Baron  de 
Sancy,  after  whom  it  was  named.  This  stone  is  said  to 
have  weighed  53^2  or  53^  carats.  According  to  some 
it  was  an  heirloom  in  the  family  of  Charles  the  Bold, 
and  was  brought  from  Constantinople  by  an  ambassa- 
dor. Its  history  between  Charles  and  the  Baron  De 
Sancy  is  uncertain.  Some  say  it  was  lost  with  his  other 
treasures  at  the  battle  of  Granson  in  1476.  The  Swiss 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  n 

soldiers  who  looted  his  tent  had  no  idea  of  the  value  of 
the  things  they  found.  They  supposed  his  vessels  of 
gold  and  silver  were  tin  and  copper,  and  they  parted 
with  his  diamonds  for  trifling  sums. 

Another  account  says  that  he  wore  the  Sancy  in  his 
helmet  at  the  battle  of  Nancy  in  1477  and  that  the  Swiss 
soldier  who  found  it  on  his  dead  body  two  days  after  the 
battle,  sold  the  precious  stone  to  a  priest  for  2  francs. 
With  charming  indifference  to  historical  facts,  one  writer 
then  places  it  in  the  hands  of  a  king  who  never  existed 
and  who  passes  it  on  to  de  Sancy  nearly  a  century  after 
that  gentleman  died,  describing  in  detail  the  method  by 
which  he  acquired  it  and  at  what  cost.  Other  writers 
say  the  Sancy  was  bought  by  King  John  II  of  Portugal 
in  1479,  but  as  Alfonso  did  not  die  until  1481,  he  must 
have  bought  it  either  before  he  became  King  or  acquired 
it  with  the  Crown  jewels  at  his  accession.  It  is  said  he 
sold  it  to  the  Baron  de  Sancy  in  1489.  At  this  point 
the  absurdities  of  history  begin.  One  writer  says  that 
de  Sancy  bought  the  diamond  in  1489,  raised  an  army 
of  Swiss  for  the  service  of  Henry  III  in  1589  and  in 
1604  sold  the  stone  to  James  I  of  England.  Another 
writer  states  that  de  Sancy  sold  the  diamond  to  Queen 
Elizabeth  of  England  in  1600.  Another  describes  how 
de  Sancy  sent  the  diamond  by  a  servant  to  Henry  III 
that  he  might  pawn  it  to  the  Swiss  Government.  The 
servant  disappeared.  Search  was  made  and  it  was  found 
that  the  man  had  been  assassinated  in  the  forest  of  Dole 
and  his  body  buried  by  a  cure  in  the  village  cemetery. 
Knowing  his  man,  de  Sancy  ordered  his  body  to  be 
opened  and  the  diamond  was  found  in  his  stomach. 
This  writer  links  the  53^  carats  diamond  of  Charles 


80  THE  DIAMOND 

the  Bold,  by  this  story,  with  the  Sancy  diamond  inven- 
toried among  the  French  jewels  in  1791,  which  weighed 
33^4  carats.  It  is  said  also  that  the  Sancy  was  sold 
by  Baron  de  Sancy  to  James  I  in  1604,  and  that  during 
the  Civil  War  in  England,  Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  wife 
of  Charles  I,  carried  it  to  France  and  pledged  it  with  an- 
other to  the  Duke  of  Epernon.  In  1657  Mazarin,  with 
the  Queen's  consent,  paid  the  duke  and  took  possession  of 
the  stone.  He  bequeathed  it  with  others  to  Louis  XIV. 
This  writer  also  thinks  this  to  be  the  Sancy  of  the  French 
Crown  jewels  inventoried  in  1791,  and  which  was 
stolen  in  1792,  recovered  in  1794,  and  probably  disposed 
of  in  1796  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  great  campaign 
of  that  year.  It  was  owned  in  Spain  in  1809,  and  later 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Demidoff  family  of 
Russia. 

Another  account  says  that  it  was  among  the  Spanish 
Crown  jewels  about  10  years  after  it  left  France,  and 
that  Prince  Demidoff  owned  it  from  1828  to  1865,  when 
he  sold  it  for  £20,000.  In  1867  it  was  exhibited  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  and  is  now  owned  by  the  Maharajah 
of  Guttiola. 

An  English  writer  says  the  King  of  France  gave  it 
to  James  II  of  England,  and  that  James  sold  it  for  $125,- 
ooo.  It  then  passed  into  the  Crown  jewels  of  France, 
was  stolen  as  heretofore  described,  recovered  by  Fouche 
for  Napoleon,  and  sold  by  him  to  Prince  Paul  Demi- 
doff. It  was  next  owned  by  the  Earl  of  Westmeath 
and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  heirs  of  the  multi- 
millionaire Parsee  merchant,  Sir  Jamsetjee  Jejeebhoy. 
The  latest  rumor  is  that  the  Sancy  has  been  presented 
by  William  Waldorf  Astor  to  his  daughter-in-law  on  the 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  81 

occasion  of  her  wedding.  It  is  possible  that  there  are 
several  stones  which  have  been  known  by  the  name.  It 
is  also  possible  that  the  irregular  cut  stone  of  Charles 
the  Bold  has  been  at  some  time  since  recut  without  pub- 
lic mention,  and  that  the  more  perfectly  cut  pear-shape 
diamond  long  among  the  French  jewels  is  the  same  as 
the  larger  stone  which  originally  bore  the  name  of  Sancy. 
But  with  all  this  information,  the  question  yet  remains 
unanswered,  Where  is  the  Sancy?  The  stone  bought  by 
Mr.  Astor  is  a  flattish  pear-shaped  briolette,  rather  off- 
color  and  with  a  white  feather  flaw.  It  is  said  to  weigh 
53 y4  carats. 

6 


CHAPTER  V 

CELEBRATED   DIAMONDS CONTINUED 

A  DIAMOND,  included  in  all  lists  of  the  celebrated 
•*•  ^  stones  of  the  world,  is  variously  quoted  as  the 
"  Mattam,"  the  "  Matan  "  and  the  "  Rajah  of  Mattan," 
and  is  so  named  because  owned  by  the  rajahs  of  that 
territory,  in  whose  family  it  remains.  It  is  an  uncut 
pear-shaped  crystal  weighing  367  Borneo  carats,  or  about 
318  European  carats.  Some  doubts  have  been  raised 
as  to  its  genuineness.  The  reigning  princes  of  the  coun- 
try regard  it  with  superstitious  reverence,  believing  that 
their  fortunes  are  linked  with  the  possession  of  the  stone, 
a  belief  shared  by  the  people  of  Borneo,  who  also  think 
that  the  destinies  of  the  empire  are  in  some  mysterious 
way  connected  with  it.  They  also  attribute  to  it  mirac- 
ulous power,  claiming  that  water  in  which  it  is  dipped 
will  cure  all  diseases.  Only  under  very  extraordinary 
circumstances,  therefore,  are  strangers  allowed  to  see  it, 
and  then  they  may  not  touch  it.  Mawe  says  that  the 
captain  of  an  Indiaman  to  whom  it  was  shown  was  re- 
quested not  to  touch  it.  It  was  exhibited  on  a  salver  of 
gold.  The  size  of  it  was  about  that  of  a  walnut,  and 
it  had  a  bluish,  metallic  luster.  Upon  examination  at 
Pontianak  in  1868,  it  was  pronounced  to  be  rock  crystal, 
but  many  think  that  a  copy  only  of  the  real  stone  was 
shown.  By  some  it  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  1760, 
by  others  in  1787,  in  the  Landak  mines  on  the  west 

82 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  83 

coast  of  Borneo.  Landak  is  in  the  territory  of  the  Ra- 
jah of  Matan,  north  of  Pontianak.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  found  by  a  dyak.  It  was  claimed  as  a  droit  of 
royalty  by  the  Sultan  Gurn  Laya,  but  he  handed  it  over 
to  the  Pangeran  (rajah)  of  Landak.  His  brother  got 
possession  of  it,  and  gave  it  as  a  bribe  to  the  Sultan  of 
Sukadana  that  he  might  be  placed  on  the  throne  of 
Landak.  The  lawful  prince  fled  to  Bantam,  and  secur- 
ing the  aid  of  the  prince  of  that  country,  and  the  Dutch, 
regained  his  own  territory  and  nearly  destroyed  Suka- 
dana. It  is  said  that  $150,000,  2  large  war  brigs  with 
guns  and  ammunition,  and  other  stores  were  offered  for 
the  stone  and  refused.  Some  say  this  offer  came  from 
Batavia  and  others  that  it  was  made  by  Jamieson,  gov- 
ernor of  Borneo.  The  diamond  is  known  in  Borneo  as 
the  "  Danan  Radschah." 

The  "  Nizam  "  is  a  large  Indian  stone  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Nizam  of  Hyderabad.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  found  by  a  child  in  the  neighborhood  of  Golconda, 
and  is  described  as  somewhat  almond  shaped,  and  in 
almost  native  condition.  It  shows  some  traces  of  an  at- 
tempt to  shape  it  into  the  mystic  Yoni.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  stone  was  broken  in  the  year  of  the  Indian  revolt, 
which  may  explain  the  various  accounts  given  of  the 
weight,  some  placing  it  at  277  carats;  others  at  340 
and  440  carats,  or  it  may  be  confounded  with  the  Af- 
rican "Victoria"  stone  of  1884,  weighing  457^  carats 
in  the  rough,  and  180  carats  after  cutting,  since  reported 
to  have  been  sold  to  the  Nizam,  and  now  sometimes 
called  also  "  The  Nizam."  It  has  been  valued  at  £200,- 
ooo.  It  has  been  reported  that  the  piece  broken  off  was 
sold  for  70,000  rupees. 


$4  THE  DIAMOND 

The  "  Hope "  is  a  sapphire  blue  diamond  weighing 
44^6  carats,  without  flaws  and  cut  to  a  slightly  irregular 
cushion  shape.  It  has  been  known  since  1830,  when  it 
was  in  the  hands  of  Daniel  Eliason  and  without  a  his- 
tory. It  was  bought  at  that  time  by  the  London  banker 
Henry  Thomas  Hope  for  £18,000,  and  passed  by  the 
hands  of  his  successor,  Lord  Hope,  to  a  New  York  firm 
who  sold  it  in  1908  to  Monsieur  Habib.  It  was  adver- 
tised for  sale  at  public  auction  with  other  large  stones 
under  the  name  "  Collection  Habib,"  in  Paris,  June 
24,  1909,  and  sold  for  $80,060.  Streeter  thinks  this 
to  be  the  large  part  of  the  irregular-shaped  blue 
diamond  bought  in  India  by  Tavernier  in  1642,  and  sold 
to  Louis  XIV  of  France  in  1668.  It  weighed  H2j4 
carats  in  the  rough  when  that  monarch  bought  it,  and 
was  probably  cut  at  once,  for  it  is  recorded  that  the 
King  wore  a  large  blue  diamond  suspended  from  a  rib- 
bon round  the  neck,  when  he  decked  himself  with  jewels 
estimated  at  £12,000,000,  to  receive  the  Persian  Ambas- 
sador at  his  court  in  February,  1715.  After  cutting, 
it  probably  weighed  67^  carats,  for  a  blue  stone  of 
that  weight  was  among  the  Crown  jewels  stolen  from 
the  Garde-Meuble  in  1792.  No  similar  blue  diamond 
was  seen  again  until  that  now  known  as  the  Hope  ap- 
peared in  the  hands  of  Eliason  in  1830.  At  the  disposal 
of  his  jewels  at  Genoa  in  1874,  after  the  death  of  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  a  similar  blue  stone  was  found  in 
his  collection.  It  was  drop-shaped,  rose  cut,  and  weighed 
13^4  carats.  Later,  another  of  the  same  color  weighing 
one  carat  was  bought  by  Streeter  in  London,  and  he  be- 
lieves, the  three  stones  being  of  similar  color,  their 
weights,  shapes,  and  cleavages  corresponding  to  the 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  85 

probable  result  of  cleaving  and  recutting  the  French 
stone,  that  they  were  parts  of  the  Tavernier  diamond. 
The  combination  of  weights,  shapes,  sizes,  and  color,  cer- 
tainly appear  to  be  incontrovertible  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  his  theory.  It  is  more  than  probable,  therefore,  that 
the  Hope  diamond  is  identical  with  that  worn  by 
Louis  XIV. 

The  "  Piggott "  is  a  shallow  stone  brought  from  India 
to  England  by  Lord  Piggott  in  1775.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  sold  by  lottery  in  1801  for  £30,000  and  later  bought 
by  Rundell  &  Bridge,  the  London  jewelers,  for  £6,000. 
AH  Pasha  of  Egypt  bought  it  for  £30,000.  The  weight 
is  generally  given  as  81^/2  carats,  though  Mawe,  who  saw 
the  stone  before  it  was  sold  to  AH,  says  it  weighs  49 
carats. 

The  "  Nassac,"  thought  to  have  come  originally  from 
a  temple  at  Nassak  on  the  upper  Godavery  and  there- 
fore so  named,  is  said  to  have  been  taken  by  Warren 
Hastings  from  the  last  independent  prince  of  Peischwa 
in  1818  and  sold  to  the  East  India  Company.  It  weighed 
89^  carats,  but  the  shape  was  bad.  Jeweler  Emanuel 
of  London  bought  it  in  1831  for  $7,200  and  sold  it  soon 
after  to  the  Marquis  of  Westminster,  who  had  it  recut 
to  a  three-sided  brilliant  of  78^  carats.  It  has  since 
been  estimated  at  the  unreasonably  high  value  of 
$148,000.  It  remains  in  the  Westminster  family. 

An  addition  was  made  to  the  Crown  jewels  of  Russia 
in  1813  of  considerable  interest.  The  Persian  prince 
Chosroes,  younger  son  of  Abbas  Mirza,  brought  as  a 
present  to  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  a  diamond  of  fine 
quality  in  the  form  of  an  irregular  prism  weighing 
about  95  carats.  On  three  of  the  edges,  which  were 


86  THE  DIAMOND 

partly  cleavage  planes  and  partly  cut  facets,  the  names  of 
three  Persian  rulers  were  engraved.  Later,  it  was  cut 
to  86  carats,  and  the  inscriptions  were  taken  out  in  the 
process,  unfortunately. 

Another  engraved  diamond  with  ancient  oriental  as- 
sociations was  the  "  Akbar  Shah."  Like  most  of  these 
relics  of  India,  it  was  not  cut  to  suit  the  modern  ideas 
of  Europe,  or  the  modernized  tastes  of  the  new  gen- 
eration of  Hindu  princes.  As  far  as  known,  its  first 
owner  was  the  Great  Mogul  Akbar,  who  died  in  1605. 
Later,  one  of  his  successors,  Shah  Jehan,  engraved  on 
two  sides  of  it  the  following  inscriptions  in  Arabic : 

SHAH  AKBAR 

THE  SHAH  OF  THE  WORLD 

1028  A.  H. 

and, 

To  THE  LORD  OF  TWO  WORLDS 

1039  A.  H. 
SHAH  JEHAN 

It  is  difficult  to  interpret  the  dates.  If  founded  on 
the  Hejira  or  Fuselli  era,  they  would  correspond  to 
somewhere  about  1618  and  1629  of  the  Christian  era. 
Shah  Akbar  died  in  1605  and  Shah  Jehan  reigned  from 
1627  to  1658.  As  there  was  much  confusion  in  India 
regarding  eras  and  methods  of  computing  time,  it  seems 
possible  that  the  figures  upon  the  stone  referred  to  the 
date  of  some  event,  or  at  any  rate  had  some  connection 
with  a  time  during  the  lives  of  these  monarchs,  but  of 
exactly  what  nature,  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any 
evidence.  The  stone  disappeared  from  public  knowl- 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  87 

edge  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was 
lost  until  well  on  in  the  nineteenth,  when  it  was 
recognized  in  Turkey  by  the  inscriptions.  It  was  known 
there  as  the  "  Shepherd's  stone."  Mr.  George  Blogg 
bought  it  in  Constantinople  in  February,  1866.  He 
brought  it  to  London  and  had  it  recut  from  120  Arabic 
to  116  English  carats,  by  Mr.  L.  M.  Auerhaan,  to  a  drop- 
shape  diamond  of  71  or  72  carats,  and  sold  it  the  fol- 
lowing year  to  the  Gaikwar  of  Baroda  for  3^/2  lacs  of 
rupees,  or  about  £35,000.  It  is  now  in  the  treasury  of 
that  country.  The  inscriptions  were  of  course  destroyed 
in  recutting.  Tradition  says  that  the  "  Akbar  Shah " 
was  one  of  the  eyes  in  the  Peacock  throne  o<f  the  Moguls, 
destroyed  by  Nadir  Shah  when  he  looted  Delhi. 

The  Shah  of  Persia  is  credited  with  the  possession  of 
two  large  fine  diamonds  also  brought  from  Delhi,  which 
are  worn,  some  say  in  two  armlets,  others,  one  in  an  arm- 
let and  one  at  the  knee.  Sir  John  Malcolm,  in  "  Sketches 
of  Persia,"  1827,  says  they  weigh  186  and  146  carats 
respectively.  The  larger  one  is  known  as  the  "  Darya- 
i-nur"  (Sea  of  light)  and  the  other  as  "  Taj-e-mah  " 
(Crown  of  moon).  They  are  of  Indian  origin  undoubt- 
edly, as  they  are  skillfully  rose-cut  after  the  Hindustan 
fashion.  Both  are  fine  stones,  but  the  Taj-e-mah  is  said 
to  be  the  finest  diamond  in  the  Persian  collection  of 
jewels.  Streeter  says  the  Shah  of  Persia  obtained  the 
smaller  one  from  Mir  Jumma,  a  diamond  merchant,  and 
that  it  is  supposed  to  have  come  originally  from  Sumb- 
hulpore,  a  district  noted  for  the  fine  quality  of  its  stones, 
though  large  ones  were  seldom  found  there.  The  Darya- 
i-nur  is  a  large,  flat,  oval-shaped  stone.  Together  they 
have  been  valued  at  20,000,000  marks. 


88  THE  DIAMOND 

Imagination  has  confused  the  early  history  of  the 
"  Eugenie,"  as  it  has  that  of  many  notable  stones.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  found  by  a  peasant,  in  the  Wajra 
Karur  district,  who  offered  it  to  a  blacksmith  for  repair- 
ing a  plow.  The  smith  threw  it  away,  but  afterwards 
picked  it  up  again  and  sold  it  to  Mr.  Arathon,  a  merchant 
in  Madras,  for  6,000  rupees.  The  merchant  sold  it  for 
a  large  sum  to  Napoleon  III.  That  a  peasant  and  a 
blacksmith  in  a  diamond-mining  district,  where  thousands 
of  poor  spend  their  lives  hunting  for  diamonds  among  the 
detrital  matter  of  ancient  rivers,  did  not  suspect  the 
value  of  the  stone,  is  possible  but  not  probable. 
The  finder  may  have  had  no  right,  however,  to  his  find, 
in  which  case  both  he  and  the  smith  may  have  feared  to 
sell  it  until  the  convenient  merchant  who  would  ask  no 
questions  came  along.  Another  account  says  that  it  was 
owned  by  Catherine  II  of  Russia,  who  gave  it  to  her 
favorite  Potemkin,  in  whose  family  it  remained  until 
Napoleon  bought  it  as  a  wedding  gift  for  his  bride 
Eugenie.  After  her  dethronement  she  sold  it  to  the 
Gaikwar  of  Baroda.  It  is  a  fine  stone,  cut  as  a  brilliant, 
weighing  51  carats. 

The  "  White  Saxon  Brilliant "  is  described  as  one  of 
the  finest  diamonds  known.  It  is  square  cut,  and  meas- 
ures iVie  inches  in  diameter.  August  the  Strong  paid 
one  million  thalers  for  it. 

"  The  Polar  Star  "  is  a  fine  stone  of  40  carats,  bril- 
liant cut,  and  variously  reported  to  be  among  the  Crown 
jewels  of  Russia  and  to  belong  to  the  Princess  Yous- 
soupoff. 

There  is  a  large  diamond  belonging  to  the  house  of 
Austria  which  has  an  authentic  history  back  to  Maria 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  89 

Theresa,  and  a  variety  beyond.  It  is  variously  named 
"  The  Florentine,"  the  "  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  "  and 
the  "  Austrian."  It  is  a  briolette  having  9  rows  of  facets 
cut  to  represent  a  star  of  9  rays,  and  weighs  113% 
Vienna  carats  or  139^2  carats  French.  The  stone, 
which  is  clear  and  very  brilliant,  is  generally  said  to  be 
a  little  yellow.  Tavernier,  who  saw  it,  says  it  is  citron 
color,  but  with  his  usual  liberality  in  estimating  values, 
he  places  the  value  of  the  "  Florentine "  at  2,608,335 
livres  or  in  round  figures  about  $520,000.  It  came  to 
Maria  Theresa  and  the  Austrian  house  by  her  husband, 
Francis  Stephen  of  Lorraine,  who,  a  year  after  his  mar- 
riage, exchanged  Lorraine  for  the  grand  duchy  of 
Tuscany  and  acquired  the  "  Florentine  "  with  it.  Tradi- 
tion says  that  this  diamond  was  cut  for  Charles  the  Bold 
by  Ludwig  Van  Berquem,  and  lost  by  him  at  the  battle 
of  Granson;  that  it  was  found  by  a  Swiss  peasant  who 
sold  it  to  a  citizen  of  Berne;  a  Genoese  who  bought  it 
from  him,  sold  it  to  Ludovic  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan, 
then  by  way  of  the  Medici  treasury  it  passed  on  to 
Francis  Stephen.  At  his  coronation,  October  4,  1745,  as 
head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  the  "  Florentine " 
adorned  the  Crown  of  the  House  of  Austria.  Another 
account  says  that  Pope  Julius  II  presented  it  to  the 
Emperor  of  Austria. 

The  "  Braganza,"  called  also  the  "  King  of  Portugal's 
diamond,"  is  a  large  stone  said  to  weigh  1680  carats, 
and  by  many  believed  to  be  a  piece  of  white  topaz.  It 
was  found  in  Brazil,  some  say  at  a  place  called  Cay-de- 
Merin  near  the  river  Malhoverde.  It  is  still  in  the  rough 
and  no  one  is  allowed  to  see  it,  nevertheless  estimates 
have  been  made  of  its  value  as  high  as  £224,000,000,  a 


90  THE  DIAMOND 

sublime  figure  since  the  discovery  and  sale  of  the  Cul- 
linan,  nearly  twice  its  size,  for  one  million  dollars. 

The  "  Regent  of  Portugal,"  a  round  diamond  of  215 
carats  valued  at  396,800  guineas,  is  said  to  have  been 
found  by  a  negro  in  1775  near  or  in  the  River  Abaite,  a 
few  miles  north  of  the  River  Plata. 

August  the  Strong  bought  a  stone  of  remarkable  color 
for  60,000  thalers  which  has  been  in  the  possession  of 
the  Saxon  Crown  since  1743.  It  is  the  "  Green  diamond 
of  Dresden/'  a  fine  quality,  flawless,  almond-shaped  stone 
of  a  bright  apple-green  color,  weighing  40  carats.  It  is 
in  the  Green  Vaults  of  Dresden. 

The  "  Dresden,"  so  named  after  the  original  owner, 
Mr.  E.  Dresden,  is  a  diamond  of  exceptional  color  and 
brilliancy,  and  faultless,  weighing  76^  carats.  It 
weighed  in  the  rough  HQ/^  carats,  and  was  evidently 
part  of  the  original  crystal  only.  It  was  found  at 
Bagagem  in  the  western  part  of  Minas  Geraes,  Brazil, 
some  say  July,  1853,  but  Streeter,  who  received  his  in- 
formation direct  from  Mr.  Dresden,  says  it  was  found 
in  1857,  brought  shortly  after  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  and 
sold  to  the  owner's  agents,  who  forwarded  it  to  him  in 
London  the  same  year.  It  was  then  cut  in  Amsterdam 
to  an  egg-shape  drop.  In  1863  a  rajah  visited  London 
for  the  purpose  of  buying  it,  but  would  not  pay  the  price 
asked,  viz. :  £40,000.  A  merchant  with  him  said  he 
would  pay  the  price  if  he  could  afford  it.  Later,  by  a 
rise  in  cotton  during  the  Civil  War  of  America,  he  found 
himself  rich  enough  to  do  so,  and  sent  an  agent  for  it. 
The  middleman  got  it  for  £32,000,  making  a  profit  of 
£8000  by  the  transaction.  The  merchant  lost  his  fortune 
and  dying,  the  heirs  sold  it  to  the  Maharajah  Sivaji  Ras, 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  91 

Gaikwar  of  Baroda,  for  £40,000,  in  whose  family  it  re- 
mains. 

One  of  the  most  important  stones  from  the  mines  of 
Brazil,  is  the  "  Star  of  the  South."  It  was  picked  up 
by  a  negress  at  work  in  the  mines  of  Bagagem,  Minas 
Geraes,  July,  1853;  The  crystal,  which  weighed  254^ 
carats,  was  an  irregular  dodecahedron  with  very  obtuse 
angles,  having  24  natural  facets.  Faint  streaks  thereon 
suggested  possible  octahedric  cleavage.  Apparently  it  was 
one  of  a  group  originally,  as  there  was  a  deep  depression 
in  one  of  the  facets  which  had  evidently  been  occupied 
formerly  by  an  octahedral  crystal,  and  in  other  parts 
of  the  surface  were  two  similar  depressions.  On  one 
side  also  there  was  a  flat  place  as  though  other  crystals 
had  been  twinned  with  it.  There  were  several  inclu- 
sions, thought  to  be  small  plates  of  titanic  iron.  It  is 
said  that  the  negress  received  her  freedom  and  a  pension 
for  life  as  a  reward,  and  that  her  master,  Casimiro  de 
Tal,  sold  the  crystal  for  £3,000.  The  purchaser  upon 
depositing  it  with  the  Bank  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  got  ad- 
vances of  £30,000  on  it.  Ultimately  it  was  sold  in  the 
rough  to  a  syndicate  headed  by  Halphen  for,  some  say 
302,  some,  430  contos  de  reis  (about  £34,000  to 
£48,000).  They  named  it  "  Estrella  do  Sud,"  and  had  it 
cut  to  an  oval  brilliant  of  125  carats  by  Voorsanger  in 
the  establishment  of  Coster  in  Amsterdam  at  a  cost  of 
nearly  £500.  The  size  of  it  is  35x29x19  mm.  The 
quality  is  fine  and  it  is  clean.  After  cutting,  it  was 
exhibited  in  the  Dutch  department  of  the  London  Ex- 
hibition in  1862,  and  at  Paris  in  1867.  An  Indian  rajah 
offered  through  a  merchant  £110,000  for  it,  but  the  offer 
was  refused.  Later  Mr.  E.  Dresden  bought  it  for  the 


92  THE  DIAMOND 

Gaikwar  of  Baroda  for  8  lacs  of  rupees  or  about  £80,- 
ooo.  Thia  was  the  Hindu  prince  who  had  a  habit  of 
administering  powdered  glass  (some  say  diamond  dust) 
to  obnoxious  subjects.  He  extended  the  practice  to 
others,  and  experimented  with  the  British  Resident, 
Colonel  Phayre,  whereupon  he  was  arraigned,  tried, 
found  guilty  and  deposed. 

The  first  large  diamond  found  in  South  Africa  was  a 
river  stone  weighing  83^/2  carats.  Van  Niekirk  got  it 
from  a  native  and  sold  it  in  Hopetown  for  £11,200.  It 
was  cut  to  a  pear-shape  brilliant  of  46^2  carats  and  named 
"  Star  of  South  Africa."  It  is  a  stone  of  very  fine  color 
and  quality,  similar  to  the  Indian  stones.  The  Countess 
of  Dudley  bought  it  for  about  £25,000,  since  which  it  is 
often  mentioned  as  the  "  Dudley  "  diamond. 

The  "  Porter  Rhodes,"  so  named  after  the  owner  of 
the  mine  in  which  it  was  found,  is  one  of  the  finest  dia- 
monds of  large  size  taken  from  the  Cape  diggings.  It 
was  found  February  12,  1880,  and  weighed  150  carats. 
The  color  is  blue-white;  rare  in  any  size  and  extremely 
so  in  large  sizes.  It  was  exhibited  at  Streeter's  museum 
on  Bond  Street  and  valued  at  £200,000.  It  came  from 
one  of  Mr.  Porter  Rhodes'  Kimberley  claims. 

A  yellowish  crystal  from  a  claim  in  the  River  diggings 
at  Waldeck's  Plant  on  the  Vaal,  was  for  several  years 
the  largest  known  Cape  stone.  It  was  found  in  1872, 
and  weighed  288^4  carats.  At  that  time  it  was  men- 
tioned as  the  "July  diamond/'  Since  cutting,  it  is 
known  as  the  "  Stewart "  and  is  a  yellowish  brilliant  of 
1 20  carats.  This  stone  illustrates  the  uncertainties  of 
mining,  and  the  finding  of  it  reminds  one  that  it  is  "  the 
unexpected  which  happens."  It  was  taken  from  a  claim 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  93 

that  was  regarded  as  practically  valueless,  and  the 
original  owner  sold  it  for  £30.  The  buyer  did  not  think 
enough  of  it  to  work  it  himself,  so  he  turned  it  over  to 
one  Antoine  to  work  on  shares.  One  day,  while  show- 
ing a  boy  working  for  him  just  where  and  how  he  wanted 
him  to  work,  Antoine's  pick  brought  the  "  July  dia- 
mond "  to  light.  It  is  said  that  he  was  so  excited  over 
the  find  that  he  could  not  eat  for  two  days.  The  stone 
so  unexpectedly  turned  up,  was  sold,  it  is  said,  for  £6,000, 
and  again  for  £9,000. 

Dr.  George  F.  Kunz  says  of  the  Tiffany  diamond: 
"  The  Tiffany  diamond  was  found  in  the  mines  of  the 
French  company  of  the  old  De  Beers  mine,  in  1877. 
The  crystal  was  a  beautiful  octahedron  weighing  280 
carats.  It  was  cut  by  a  French  diamond-cutting  com- 
pany in  Paris  in  1878  and  was  bought,  through  Mr. 
Charles  Reed,  the  Paris  member  of  the  firm,  for  Messrs. 
Tiffany  &  Co.  in  1879  and  imported  into  the  United 
States ;  since  then  it  has  been  in  their  possession.  It  is  of 
a  rich  canary,  almost  orange  yellow  color,  and  is  believed 
to  be  the  finest  yellow  diamond  known.  The  diamond 
has  40  facets  on  the  crown,  44  on  the  pavilion,  17  on  the 
girdle,  a  culet  and  a  table;  103  facets  in  all.  It  meas- 
ures 22  millimeters,  22/25  inches  in  height;  28.25  milli- 
meters, 1%  inches  across;  27  millimeters  wide,  iVi2 
inches  across.  It  was  described  in  Science,  Vol.  LX,  p. 
235,  August  5,  1887. 

"  It  was  exhibited  at  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago 
in  1893  and  the  Pan-American  Exhibition  held  at 
Buffalo  in  1901.  It  is  the  one  jewel  that  is  not  for  sale 
in  the  house  of  Tiffany  &  Co.  and  has  been  shown  by 
them  to  more  people  than  possibly  any  other  large  dia- 


94  THE  DIAMOND 

mond  known.  The  stone  is  wonderfully  brilliant  and 
rich  in  color,  and  as  faultless  as  any  large  stone  of  that 
kind  has  ever  been." 

The  "  Pasha  of  Egypt,"  a  fine  octagonal  brilliant  of 
40  carats,  was  bought  by  Ibraham,  Viceroy  of  Egypt,  for 
£28,000. 

The  "  Cumberland  "  was  bought  by  the  City  of  London 
for  £10,000  and  presented  to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland 
after  the  battle  of  Culloden.  The  House  of  Hanover 
claimed  it,  and  about  thirty-five  years  ago  Queen  Vic- 
toria restored  it  to  them.  Its  weight  is  32  carats. 

The  name  "Victoria"  has  been  given  to  two  stones 
found  in  the  Cape.  One,  taken  from  the  De  Beers, 
March  28,  1880,  weighing  428^  carats  in  the  rough, 
and  variously  reported  as  weighing  228^  and  288^ 
carats  when  cut  to  a  brilliant.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
sold  to  an  East  Indian  prince.  This  stone  was  yel- 
lowish and  a  quite  regular  octahedron.  The  other  came 
to  Europe  in  1884,  from  what  mine  is  not  known.  It  was 
colorless  and  in  form  an  irregular  octahedron  weighing 
457/^  carats,  which  was  reduced  to  180  carats  by  cut- 
ting to  an  oval  brilliant.  It  was  exhibited  in  the  French 
jewelry  section  on  the  Champs  du  Mars  at  the  Paris 
Exposition  of  1889,  and  sold  finally  to  the  Nizam  of 
Hyderabad  for  £400,000.  It  has  since  been  known  as 
the  "  Nizam,"  though  an  older  stone  in  the  Hyderabad 
treasury  has  long  borne  the  name. 

Many  large  stones  have  been  found  in  the  Cape  mines 
which  for  various  reasons  have  not  come  to  public  notice. 
In  the  early  days  of  diamond  mining,  few  records  were 
kept.  Knowledge  of  large  stones  found,  was  often  of 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  95 

the  character  which  comes  of  rumor.  Men  who  had 
such  stones,  frequently  had  also  serious  reasons  for  wish- 
ing to  hide  the  fact  from  public  knowledge.  Some  who 
had  them,  stole  them;  others  bought  them  knowing  that 
they  were  stolen.  It  is  told  that  one  fine  diamond  crystal 
of  upwards  of  200  carats  was  bought  by  a  dealer  of  a 
Kaffir  for  £15.  The  early  history  of  many  noble  gems 
is  enshrouded  to  hide  the  knavery  which  escorted  them 
from  the  mine  to  the  cutting  wheel.  Those  who  knew, 
would  not  tell  of  the  interval  between  the  disappearance 
of  Louis  XIV's  blue  diamond  from  the  Garde-Meuble  and 
the  appearance  of  the  blue  diamond  called  the  "  Hope." 
Nor  would  those  who  know,  dare  to  let  it  be  publicly 
known,  whence  some  of  the  great  African  diamonds 
came,  and  how  from  hand  to  hand  they  passed  to  the 
cutter.  There  are  enough  large  diamonds  known  to  have 
come  from  the  Cape,  however,  from  the  early  working 
of  the  mines  onward,  to  show  how  prolific  of  large 
stones  those  fields  are.  The  climax  was  thought  to  have 
been  reached  when  on  June  30,  1893,  a  Kaffi1"  picked 
up  a  crystal,  while  loading  a  truck  in  the  Jagersfontein 
mine,  weighing  971^  carats.  The  man  contrived  to 
secrete  it  without  being  observed  by  the  white  overseer 
standing  near  by,  but  delivered  it  to  the  manager  him- 
self later.  Immediately  the  whole  civilized  world  was 
informed  of  the  great  discovery.  After  five  centuries, 
the  boast  of  India  was  eclipsed,  and  the  "  Great  Mogul," 
to  which  every  writer  on  the  subject  had  referred  as  the 
greatest  diamond  of  the  world,  was  relegated  to  second 
place  in  the  history  of  gems.  The  enormous  and 
precious  crystal,  at  once  estimated  to  be  worth  fabulous 


96  THE  DIAMOND 

sums  of  money,  was  named  the  "  Excelsior/'  The 
finder  was  rewarded  by  a  gift  of,  some  say  £500,  others 
£150,  a  horse,  saddle  and  bridle,  and  the  diamond 
fields  and  the  diamond  dealers  of  the  world  boiled  with 
excitement.  The  color  was  reported  to  be  fine,  and  the 
only  difficulty  which  confronted  the  owner  was  to  get 
a  purchaser  who  could  find  use  and  pay  for  such  a 
monster  gem.  Later  developments  obviated  the  im- 
pediment of  size  considerably,  for  there  were  internal 
flaws  so  placed  that  a  material  reduction  must  result 
from  their  elimination.  The  shape'  also  made  it  impos- 
sible to  cut  a  single  brilliant  from  it  without  unusual  and 
wasteful  loss  of  material.  The  crystal  measured  3  inches 
in  length  by  i^  inches  thick,  and  its  breadth  varied  from 
il/2  to  2 j/2  inches.  As  no  purchaser  appeared,  it  was 
finally  decided  to  cut  it.  After  much  study,  it  was 
planned  to  cleave  it  into  ten  pieces,  and  cut  them  into 
drop  and  marquise  shape  brilliants.  The  work  was  very 
successfully  done  at  Amsterdam  in  1904. 

According  to  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  re- 
port of  1904,  the  three  largest  cleavages  weighed, 
158,  147,  and  130  carats  respectively,  and  the  cut  gems 
produced  were  as  follows : 

No.  i  68  carats  Drop  (pear  shape). 

2  45  30/32  Drop  (pear  shape). 

3  45  26/32  Drop  (pear  shape). 

4  39  10/32  Marquise  (oval  Brilliant). 

5  34    2/32  Drop. 

6  27  30/32  Marquise. 

7  25  22/32  Marquise. 

8  23  24/32  Marquise. 

9  1 6  12/32  Drop. 
10  13  17/32  Drop. 

340  13/32  in  all. 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  97 

Another  large  crystal  found  in  the  same  mine  in  1895 
is  often  confounded  with  the  Excelsior.  It  weighed  640 
carats.  It  is  now  one  of  the  most  perfectly  cut  oval 
brilliants  in  existence  and  weighs  239  carats.  It  is  said 
to  be  the  finest  large  diamond  in  the  world,  faultless  in 
color,  luster,  brilliancy  and  purity.  It  was  exhibited  in 
the  Paris  Exposition  in  1900  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Jubilee,"  in  honor  of  Queen  Victoria's  jubilee  of  1897. 
The  diamond  measures  i^xij^  inches  and  is  one  inch 
thick. 

As  another  striking  illustration  of  the  uncertainties  of 
mining,  it  is  reported  that  a  man  had  contracted  for  all 
the  stones  taken  from  the  claim  in  which  the  Excelsior 
was  found,  up  to  June  30,  inclusive.  The  big  stone 
was  one  of  the  last  found  on  that  day. 

It  is  reported  that  the  diamond  seal  of  Charles  I  of 
England  is  now  among  the  Crown  jewels  of  Persia. 
The  royal  arms  of  England  are  cut  in  this  stone.  King 
Charles  gave  this  at  the  last  moment  before  his  execu- 
tion, to  his  faithful  attendant,  Herbert,  with  orders  to 
convey  it  to  his  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales.  It  is  probable 
that  this  was  done,  and  that  Charles  II,  who  during  his 
exile  was  in  constant  need  of  money,  sold  it  to  Taver- 
nier,  with  whom  he  was  acquainted.  Tavernier  made 
several  journeys  to  the  East  to  buy  and  sell  jewels,  and 
King  Charles'  seal  probably  journeyed  with  him. 

There  are  many  stones  of  some  celebrity  to  which 
histories  of  an  apocryphal  character  are  attached.  For. 
instance,  the  "  Agra "  diamond,  sold  at  Christie's  in 
London,  February  22,  1905,  for  $25,000.  This  is  the 
stone  of  which  it  is  said,  that  when  the  King  of  Delhi's 
jewels  were  looted  in  1857,  a  young  English  officer  got 
7 


98  THE  DIAMOND 

possession  of  it  and  attempted  to  smuggle  it  away  by 
putting  it  in  a  horse  ball  and  making  a  horse  swallow 
it.  The  horse  died,  but  the  diamond  was  taken  from  the 
stomach  and  afterwards  sold  to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick. 
It  was  a  brilliant  rose  pink  stone  with  some  black  spots 
in  it  which  were  taken  out  by  a  cutter  of  Paris,  who 
thereby  reduced  the  weight  of  the  diamond  from  46  to 
31^2  carats.  An  American  who  was  in  Paris  in  1889, 
believes  it  to  be  the  same  stone  which  he  had  in  his  pos- 
session there  for  some  time,  and  which  he  says  was  re- 
cut  there  from  70  to  3i13/32  carats.  In  common  with 
many  other  Indian  stones,  it  was  connected  with  the 
Mogul  Baber,  founder  of  the  Mogul  dynasty  in  India, 
the  favorite  story  being  that  the  Emperor  wore  it  in  his 
turban. 

In  an  immense  belt,  owned  by  the  rajahs  of  Panem- 
bohan  and  Pongerons,  studded  with  diamonds  from  the 
neighborhood  of  Landak,  Borneo,  is  one  stone  which 
weighs  67  carats. 

The  Crown  jewels  of  Portugal  are  credited  with  a 
diamond  of  215  carats  and  another  somewhat  smaller, 
which  are  said  to  have  been  found  by  three  men  who 
were  banished  to  the  province  of  Minas  Geraes,  and  pur- 
chased their  freedom  with  them.  The  large  one  is  prob- 
ably the  "  Regent  of  Portugal,"  mentioned  heretofore. 

A  10  carat  red  diamond  in  the  Russian  Crown  jewels 
cost  the  Emperor  Paul  100,000  rubles. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  African  mines,  the  many 
large  stones  found,  larger  than  those  of  the  old  times 
made  famous  by  romance  and  associations,  and  many 
too,  as  beautiful,  have  passed  quietly  through  the  chan- 
nels of  commerce  to  private  collections  without  attracting 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  99 

public  comment.  Now  that  by  changes  of  conditions, 
men  gather  riches  by  finance  instead  of  by  violence,  and 
are  able  to  loot  treasuries  without  danger  or  fatigue,  the 
excitements  of  mystery  and  murder  are  withdrawn  from 
the  products  of  the  diamond  mines.  Gems  of  greater 
worth  and  beauty  than  those  that  sparkled  from  the  heads 
of  idols  and  Peacock  thrones,  or  upon  the  persons  of 
the  lords  of  rapine,  untrumpeted  by  legendary  rumor, 
are  disenchanted  and  reduced  to  the  ranks  of  prosaic 
commerce.  No  longer  do  picturesque  freebooters 
gather  hordes  of  fighting  men  to  swoop  down  upon  the 
treasure  chests  of  potentates;  but  their  descendants,  in 
broadcloth  and  starched  linen,  by  the  battle  of  wits,  en- 
rich themselves,  and  buy  jewels  more  wonderful  than 
those  which  glitter  in  legend  and  romance. 

Time  was  when  few  of  the  large  diamonds  of  the  world 
were  to  be  found  outside  the  lands  of  the  Orient. 
While  India  was  the  chief  source  of  supply,  her  power- 
ful princes  let  few  escape  them.  Occasionally,  Persia  by 
violence  acquired  some  of  them,  and  a  few  were  stolen. 
Then  as  the  adventurers  of  Europe  pushed  their  way 
east  and  made  settlements  in  India,  there  came  oppor- 
tunities to  dispose  of  loot,  and  an  odd  stone  of  size  was 
now  and  then  smuggled  away  and  sold  to  some  crowned 
head  of  Europe.  Then  came  the  discovery  of  diamonds 
in  Brazil.  The  intimate  relations  of  that  country  as  an 
old-time  colony  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  opened  a  new 
avenue  between  diamond  mines  and  Europe,  unhampered 
by  the  jealous  desire  to  own  the  best  of  the  product  which 
characterized  the  ruling  element  of  India,  so  that  al- 
though Brazil  produced  few  large  stones,  the  export  of 
those  that  were  found,  was  not  restricted  as  in  India. 


ioo  THE  DIAMOND 

Not  until  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in  Africa,  how- 
ever, did  Europe  acquire  freely  stones  of  a  size  suffi- 
ciently large  to  have  them  recorded  among  the  celebrated. 
Now  the  monster  gems  of  the  Orient  that  have  long 
ranked  among  the  world's  wonders  are  fast  becoming 
insignificant  among  the  numerous  larger  ones  furnished 
by  the  empire  of  Britain  in  Africa,  and  the  last  of  the 
great  diamonds  found,  taken  from  the  New  Premier 
mine,  is  now  the  world's  greatest  diamond.  Here  is  the 
story  of  the  discovery. 

Out  in  the  Transvaal,  one  evening  late  in  January, 
1905,  where  the  faith  and  energy  of  Tom  Cullinan,  as 
his  familiars  called  him  in  those  days,  had  transformed 
an  old-fashioned  Boer  farm  in  the  wilds,  into  a  mining 
camp,  and  broken  the  calm  and  silence  of  a  solitude  by 
the  click  of  picks,  the  whiz  and  whir  of  machinery,  the 
stir  and  bustle  of  many  workmen,  and  the  constant 
tremor  of  expectation,  a  bluff,  genial-faced  man  might 
have  been  seen  leisurely  picking  his  way  down  the  rough 
broken  surface  of  an  open  working  in  the  Premier  dia- 
mond mine.  He  was  the  mine  manager,  Cap.  Frederick 
Wells.  His  eye  roved  as  he  walked,  for  the  rugged, 
desolate-looking  waste,  though  devoid  of  the  green  things 
which  cover  the  earth's  nakedness  and  grow  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  eye,  was  not  altogether  barren.  That 
rough  hole  in  the  ground  was  the  hiding  place  of  gems, 
and  from  the  habit  of  years  he  looked  always  that  per- 
chance he  might  discover  one.  Suddenly  a  gleam  from 
the  rough  face  of  the  jagged  slope  he  was  descending, 
caught  his  eye.  He  turned,  and  stooping  down,  picked 
from  its  bed  in  the  rock,  a  huge  crystal.  It  looked  like 
a  piece  of  ice;  it  was  a  diamond.  After  turning  it  over 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  J       )it&z 


in  his  hand  for  a  few  seconds,  he  walked  on  toward  the 
office  of  the  company  near  by  and  entering,  handed  the 
stone  to  General  Manager  McHardy  who,  with  the  presi- 
dent, Mr.  T.  M.  Cullinan,  sat  at  a  table  inspecting  the 
day's  yield  of  diamonds.  For  a  few  minutes  the  men 
stared  at  it  and  each  other  in  silence.  Familiar  as  they 
were  with  diamonds,  they  did  not  realize  at  once  the  im- 
portance of  that  fist-size  lump  of  glitter.  In  that  stone 
lay  the  whole  capital  stock  of  the  company  three  times 
over.  It  meant  fortunes  to  them  and  to  the  men  in 
London  who  had  backed  the  enterprise  with  their  money, 
for  it  would  give  stimulus  to  the  venture  and  raise  the 
mine  in  the  estimation  of  the  world  to  the  level  of  the 
De  Beers  and  Kimberley.  That  unexpected  stone  was 
to  teach  the  lords  of  the  diamond  world  that  another 
had  arisen  who  would  surely  enter  the  cabinet  that  ruled. 

Soon,  to  all  parts  of  the  world  the  message  went, 
that  back  in  the  heart  of  Africa  in  the  new  mine  of  the 
Transvaal,  a  diamond  had  been  found  four  times  as 
large  as  the  boast  of  ancient  India  ;  more  than  three  times 
the  size  of  Excelsior,  the  wonder  of  the  modern  world. 
Newspapers  all  over  the  world  told  the  facts  and  filled 
out  the  columns  with  imagination.  Writers  vied  with 
each  other  in  estimating  the  value  of  the  colossal  gem. 
Four  million  dollars  was  the  lowest  figure;  one  hundred 
million,  said  some. 

The  diamond  was  found  to  weigh  3025^  carats,  or 
nearly  twenty  ounces  troy  and  measured  4x2^/2x1^/2 
inches.  It  was  taken  to  Pretoria  and  from  there  to 
Johannesburg,  where  it  was  deposited  in  the  Standard 
Bank.  While  there  it  was  submitted  to  the  examination 
of  scientists  and  exhibited  to  the  public  for  some  days. 


THE  DIAMOND 

It  was  then  sealed  in  a  tin  box  and  sent  registered  as 
"  postal  packet  "  to  the  London  office  of  the  Company. 

Dr.  Molengraff  pronounced  it  a  portion  only  of  a  much 
larger  crystal.  Four  cleavage  planes  showed  where  as 
many  pieces  had  been  broken  off.  Only  a  small  part  of 
the  exterior  showed  the  natural  skin  or  "  nyf "  of  a 
crystal,  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  consisting  of  the 
four  cleavage  planes.  The  remainder  showed  one 
octahedral  face  and  a  curved  irregular  surface  roughly 
corresponding  to  six  faces  of  the  dodecahedron,  while 
one  very  irregular  face  of  the  hexahedron  was  indicated 
by  quadrilateral  impressions, characteristic  of  those  faces 
in  minerals,  such  as  the  diamond,  which  have  the 
octahedral  form  o>f  crystallization. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  glessen  or  grain  marks, 
and  minor  flaws,  which  could  be  eradicated  in  the  cutting, 
the  stone  appeared  to  be  perfect  and  it  so  proved  later 
when  it  was  cut. 

Sir  William  Crookes  thought  that  it  was  probably  less 
than  half  of  a  distorted  octahedral  crystal.  Some  ex- 
perts were  of  the  opinion  that  originally  it  was  in  the 
form  of  a  dodecahedron.  All  pronounced  it  the  purest 
of  all  the  very  large  stones  known.  A  beam  of 
polarized  light  passed  through  it  in  various  directions 
showed  colors  in  all  cases;  brightest  when  passed  along 
the  greatest  diameter,  but  no  regular  figure  was  to  be 
seen.  Sir  Wm.  Crookes  was  reported  as  saying  that 
these  observations  denoted  internal  strain. 

When  it  was  sent  to  London  in  March  by  registered 
mail,  it  was  insured  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  and  upon  being  deposited  in  the  London 
&  Westminster  Bank,  arrangements  were  made  to  insure 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  103 

it  for  about  $2,500,000  by  special  premiums  against 
loss  each  time  it  was  taken  out  to  show  prospective  pur- 
chasers. It  was  named  the  Cullinan,  after  T.  M.  Cul- 
linan,  the  chairman  of  the  Premier  Company. 

For  a  long  time  the  great  diamond  lay  there,  as  com- 
pletely hidden  from  the  light  as  it  had  been  for  ages 
in  its  volcanic  birthplace  in  Africa,  its  enormous  value 
and  the  size  which  rendered  it  unfit  for  most  gem  pur- 
poses, making  a  sale  impossible.  There  was  much  talk 
of  starting  a  popular  subscription  in  England  to  buy  it 
for  King  Edward  as  a  present  from  the  people  of  the 
whole  British  Empire,  but  nothing  was  done,  probably 
because  the  advocates  of  that  course  put  such  a  high 
valuation  on  the  stone  (ten  million  pounds  sterling  was 
the  general  figure),  possibly  because  many  saw  in  the 
suggestion  a  good  business  stroke  for  the  owners  at  the 
expense  of  the  public.  Finally,  at  the  instance  of  Presi- 
dent Botha,  the  Transvaal  Assembly  voted  to  buy  it  and 
present  it  to  King  Edward  as  a  recognition  of  His 
Majesty's  grant  of  a  constitution  to  the  colony.  There 
was  considerable  opposition  to  the  scheme  on  account 
of  the  finances  of  the  colony,  but  the  motion  was  carried 
by  a  vote  of  149  to  119  and  the  price  fixed  upon  was 
about  $1,000,000.  The  actual  outlay  was  but  forty  per 
cent,  of  the  amount,  as  the  Transvaal  government  exacts 
as  a  tax,  sixty  per  cent,  upon  all  diamonds  mined  within 
its  jurisdiction. 

On  November  9,  1907,  nearly  three  years  after  the 
diamond  was  picked  out  of  the  "blue"  of  the  Premier 
mine  in  Africa,  Sir  Richard  Solomon,  formerly  lieuten- 
ant governor  of  the  Transvaal,  on  behalf  of  the  people 
of  the  colony,  accompanied  by  Sir  Francis  Hop  wood, 


104  THE  DIAMOND 

permanent  Under-Secretary  of  the  Colonial  Office,  pre- 
sented the  diamond  to  the  King  at  Sandringham.  They 
were  attended  by  Inspectors  Drew  and  Gough,  and  from 
the  time  they  took  the  diamond  from  the  vaults  of  the 
London  and  Westminster  Bank  until  it  was  returned  to 
its  place  of  security,  the  party  was  in  charge  of  Scot- 
land Yard  and  surrounded  by  detectives.  Arrived  at 
Wolferton,  the  two  knights  entered  a  royal  carriage 
awaiting  them  and  preceded  by  an  outrider,  drove  to 
Sandringham.  Upon  reaching  the  royal  abode  they  were 
conducted  to  the  drawing-room,  where  they  were  shortly 
joined  by  the  King  and  Queen,  the  Queens  of  Spain  and 
Norway,  the  Princess  of  Wales,  the  Princess  Victoria, 
the  Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg  and  others.  Sir 
Richard  Solomon  at  once  presented  the  diamond  to  the 
King.  He  examined  it  with  interest,  and  expressing  his 
admiration,  handed  it  to  the  Queen,  who  in  turn  with  the 
other  ladies  present,  inspected  it.  At  the  invitation  of 
the  King,  Sir  Richard  Solomon  and  Sir  Francis  Hop- 
wood  lunched  with  members  of  the  royal  family  and 
returned  to  London  by  the  2 155  P.  M.  train,  taking  the 
diamond  with  them. 

Now  came  the  important  matter  of  cutting  the  great 
diamond.  After  much  deliberation,  it  was  decided  to 
entrust  the  work  to  the  firm  of  J.  Asscher  &  Co.  of 
Amsterdam.  A  replica  in  clay  was  made  and  experi- 
mented upon.  The  crystal  was  studied  in  every  aspect 
to  find  how  the  flaws  could  be  lost  in  the  cutting;  into 
what  shapes  and  sizes  of  cut  gems  the  crystal  could  be 
transformed  with  the  minimum  loss  of  weight,  and  to 
that  end,  where  and  how  it  should  be  cleaved.  A  de- 
cision was  finally  reached,  to  make  one  large  cleavage 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  105 

which  would  pass  through  the  interior  flaw.  Of  the 
resulting  two  pieces,  if  the  cleaving  was  successful,  one 
should  be  cut  as  a  large  pendeloque  or  drop  shape,  and 
the  other  cleaved  again  for  a  large  brilliant  and  other 
smaller  gems  of  various  sizes  and  shapes.  The  pre- 
liminary work  of  making  a  V-shaped  incision,  with  a 
diamond  sharp,  in  the  grain  of  the  great  crystal  where 
it  was  to  be  split,  was  accomplished,  and  the  moment 
arrived  when  the  blow  must  be  struck  which  would  make 
or  mar  the  greatest  diamond  in  the  world.  The  nick  in 
the  edge  of  the  crystal  was  about  half  an  inch  deep. 
Into  this  incision,  in  the  presence  of  his  two  brothers  of 
the  firm,  and  three  representatives  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, Mr.  J.  Asscher  placed  a  specially  constructed  knife 
blade  and  making  ready,  struck  it  a  heavy  blow.  There 
was  a  splitting,  breaking  sound,  but  on  opening  the  hand 
which  covered  the  diamond,  that  was  found  intact  — 
the  blade  had  broken.  Another  blade  and  another  blow, 
and  the  crystal  parted  in  twain,  the  facets  of  the  two 
parts  smooth  as  glass,  except  where  the  cleavage  passing 
through  the  flaw,  left  a  little  icing  to  show  where  it  had 
been  and  which  would  soon  disappear  with  the  cutting. 

For  the  cutting,  special  tools  had  been  prepared.  The 
drop,  6  inches  across  and  weighing  twenty  pounds,  was 
attached  to  a  lever  so  that  the  stone  could  be  raised  from 
or  lowered  to  the  wheel  by  foot  power.  The  mill,  of 
cast  iron,  measured  i6l/2  inches  across  and  made  2400 
revolutions  per  minute.  The  cutting  was  placed  in  charge 
of  Mr.  Henri  Koe. 

Great  precautions  were  taken  for  the  safety  of  the 
stone.  No  one  was  allowed  to  leave  or  enter  the  cut- 
ting room,  where  the  three  men  employed  in  the  cutting 


106  THE  DIAMOND 

were  employed  from  7  A.  M.  to  9  p.  M.,  without  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm.  At  night  the  diamond  was  kept  in  the 
strong  room  and  guarded  by  four  policemen.  It  was 
taken  back  and  forth  to  the  cutting  room  by  the  head 
of  the  firm  and  ten  men.  A  night  watchman  made  a 
certain  mark  at  the  strong  room  every  half  hour  during 
the  night  to  show  that  everything  was  properly  guarded. 
The  walls  of  the  strong  room,  of  iron  and  cement,  were 
%  of  a  yard  thick,  and  the  door  was  opened  by  a  com- 
bination known  only  to  the  three  heads  of  the  firm. 
Within,  the  safe  was  hidden  behind  a  mahogany  cup- 
board with  two  handles  but  no  locks  visible.  There  were 
nine  locks,  however,  behind  a  sliding  panel,  and  two 
safes,  in  one  of  which  was  the  diamond,  and  the  door 
of  the  safe  was  of  eight-inch  steel.  On  account  of  the 
great  size,  it  was  decided  to  increase  the  number  of 
facets  usual  in  the  brilliant  cut,  to  74  for  the  largest 
stone  and  66  for  the  second  largest.  The  latter  is  a 
square  cut  brilliant.  The  greatest  of  all  diamonds  was 
finished  September  12,  1908,  in  time  for  Christmas. 

The  final  result  of  the  cutting  up  of  the  crystal  was 
as  follows: 

Carats. 

i  Pendeloque  or  drop  shape 516  1/2 

Square  Brilliant  309  3/16 

Pendeloque  92 

Square  Brilliant  62 

Heart  shape  Brilliant  18  3/8 

Marquise  Brilliant  n  1/4 

Marquise  Brilliant  8  9/16 

Square  Brilliant  6  5/8 

Pendeloque  4  9/32 

96  Brilliants  , 73/8 

Unpolished  ends  9 


CELEBRATED  DIAMONDS  107 

and  the  marvel  of  it  is  that  they  are  absolutely  without 
flaw  and  of  a  fine  blue-white  color.  The  largest  stone 
measures  2.322x1.791  inches,  and  the  next  important, 
1.771x1.594  inches. 

King  Edward,  who  followed  the  process  of  cutting 
with  much  interest,  as  a  token  of  his  appreciation  of  the 
eminently  successful  results,  presented  the  firm  of  cut- 
ters with  a  silver  bowl,  and  the  Queen  of  Holland  con- 
ferred the  Knighthood  of  Orange  Nassau  on  Joseph 
Asscher.  The  knife  and  hammer  with  which  the  cleav- 
ing was  done  were  presented  to  the  King. 

Thus  has  been  added  to  the  Crown  jewels  of  England, 
magnificent  symbols  of  her  power,  and  coming  as  a  gift 
from  a  colony  which  was  but  a  short  -time  since  a 
desperately  inimical  government,  they  are  glowing  testi- 
monials to  the  general  policy  of  a  nation  which  has  be- 
come the  most  successful  colonizer  of  the  world. 

For  comparison,  the  weights  of  the  great  cut  dia- 
monds of  the  world  at  present  known  to  be  in  existence 
are  appended : 

Carats. 

Cullinan  I  516  1/2 

Cullinan  II  309  3/16 

Nizam    277 

Jubilee    239 

Victoria   (?)    228  1/2 

Regent  of  Portugal 217 

Orloff  194  3/4 

Darya-i-nur    186 

Victoria   (?)    180 

Porter  Rhodes   150 

Taj-e-mah    146 

Regent  (Pitt)   1367/8 

Florentine     133  1/8 

Star  of  the  South  125  1/2 


io8  THE  DIAMOND 

Carat3. 

Tiffany    125  1/2 

Stewart    120 

Koh-i-noor   106  1/4 

The  great  diamond  was  received  by  the  King  and 
Queen  at  Windsor  Castle  from  Mr.  Asscher  on  Novem- 
ber 21,  1908. 

The  "  Prince  Edward  of  York  Diamond,"  a  fine  white 
pear-shape  African  stone  weighing  60%  carats,  was  im- 
ported in  1901  by  Alfred  H.  Smith  &  Co.,  the  New  York 
diamond  merchants,  and  sold  to  an  American  banker. 


THE  PRINCE  EDWARD  OF  YORK  DIAMOND;   60  1/4  Carats 


CHAPTER  VI 

INHERENT    QUALITIES    OF    THE   DIAMOND    AND   DIAMOND 

CUTTING 

THE  qualities  which  make  a  diamond  so  supremely 
beautiful  are  those  which  husband  and  coquette 
with  light.  As  trembling  dewdrops,  restless  waters,  or 
the  windows  of  a  far-off  cottage,  receive  the  sun's  rays 
and  signal  his  glory  far  and  wide  with  their  flashlights, 
so  the  diamond  makes  an  altar  for  the  light  of  the  at- 
mosphere. But  the  water  is  unstable  and  the  light  of 
the  window  is  evanescent;  the  diamond  is  everywhere 
and  always  ready  for  a  single  ray  or  the  flood  of  noon. 
If  a  nimble  ray  glides  over  its  surface,  yet  more  swiftly 
does  the  diamond  catch  it  in  the  passing,  and  breaking  it 
into  many,  sends  them  on,  a  sparkling  shower.  Harder 
than  all  else,  its  glistening  walls  nevertheless  give  cheer- 
ful entry  to  the  light,  but  exit,  if  properly  cut,  only 
where  it  entered.  Once  within,  the  adamantine  faces 
smile  and  smile  and  pass  it  on,  to  cast  it  forth  finally, 
effulgent.  It  is  very  wonderful  that  a  thing  can  be  at 
once  so  pervious  and  so  impervious. 

Light  falling  vertically  upon  the  surface  of  a  diamond, 
enters  and  passes  on  in  a  straight  line,  but  o>f  that  which 
strikes  it  in  a  slanting  direction,  part  is  reflected  and  part 
enters.  That  which  enters  is  refracted  or  bent.'  This 
is  a  power  peculiar  to  mediums  more  dense  than  air. 
All  precious  stones  possess  it,  but  it  is  greater  in  the 

109 


no  THE  DIAMOND 

diamond  than  in  any  other.  For  instance,  the  indices 
of  refraction  for  spinel  and  garnet,  which  are  also,  like 
the  diamond,  singly  refractive  stones,  are  1.71  and  1.77; 
that  of  the  diamond  is  2.43. 

To  obtain  the  index  of  this  refraction,  draw  a  line 
perpendicular  to  the  surface  of  the  body  through  the 
point  of  entry  of  the  ray,  and  a  circle  around  with 
this  point  as  a  center.  A  straight  horizontal  line  from  the 
point  where  the  circle  intersects  the  ray,  to  the  per- 
pendicular line,  is  the  sine  of  the  angle  of  incidence, 
and  the  sides  of  the  angle  follow  the  ray  and  the  per- 
pendicular line  to  the  impinging  point  as  a  vertex, 
thereby  forming  the  angle  of  incidence.  The  ray  on 
entering  the  body  is  bent  or  refracted  toward  the  per- 
pendicular line.  The  point  in  the  circle,  therefore, 
within  the  body,  where  it  is  intersected  by  the  refracted 
ray,  would  be  nearer  the  perpendicular  line,  on  the  other 
side  of  it.  A  line  drawn  between  these  two  points  would 
be  the  sine  of  the  angle  of  refraction  and  with  the  sides 
forming  a  vertex  at  the  central  point  with  the  vertex 
of  the  angle  of  incidence,  would  be  the  angle  of  re- 
fraction. It  is  the  comparative  lengths  of  these  sines 
which  give  the  index  of  refraction.  In  water  it  is  as 
1.33  to  i ;  in  spinel  1.71,  in  garnet  1.77,  and  in  diamond 
it  is  as  2:43  to  i. 

The  light,  which  falling  upon  the  surface  of  the  dia- 
mond is  sent  flashing  on,  constitutes  the  surface  bril- 
liancy, and  that  which  finds  entry,  by  the  gem's  power 
to  hold  and  return  it,  forms  the  internal  brilliancy. 

The  light  which  has  entered  the  stone  is  now  in  the 
grip  of  more  exacting  laws.  It  has  lost  the  full 
freedom  of  the  air.  The  denser  medium  sets  bounds, 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  in 

and  the  artisan  knowing  these,  so  cuts  the  diamond  as 
to  leave  no  avenue  of  escape  for  the  entrapped  light  but  ? 
the  front  of  the  gem  where  it  entered.  Jumping  from 
wall  to  wall  of  the  transparent  enclosure,  the  rays  try 
them  all  with  points  of  light  in  vain,  until  they  reach 
again  the  gate  of  entry,  and  even  this  must  be  properly 
approached  if  they  would  pass  through. 

The  reason  of  it  is  this:  that  ray  of  light  traversing 
a  denser  medium,  in  its  efforts  to  escape  back  into  the 
rarer  medium,  air,  meets  with  an  obstacle  called  "  total 
reflection."!  Though  light  may  in  some  degree  enter 
from  the  rarer  to  the  denser  medium  at  any  angle,  it  can 
return  only  within  certain  bounds. 

Inside  the  limits  of  freedom,  light  passing  from  the 
diamond  in  a  slanting  direction  into  the  air  is  also  re- 
fracted as  it  passes  the  surface  of  the  stone,  but  in  a 
contrary  direction.  It  is  then  bent  or  refracted  from 
instead  of  toward  the  perpendicular,  and  the  sine  of  the 
angle  of  incidence  is  less  than  that  of  the  angle  of 
refraction.  The  direction  of  the  ray  is  a  simple  re- 
versal of  that  taken  on  entering  the  stone.  The  angle 
of  total  reflection  is  variously  given  as  24°  13'  to  24°  24'. 
A  ray  of  light  impinging  on  the  inner  surface  of  a  dia- 
mond slightly  within  or  less  than  this  angle,  will  on 
passing  through  to  the  air  be  refracted  so  that  it  will 
pass  along  the  stone  near  the  outer  surface,  as  a  brilliant 
shot  of  light.  But  if  the  ray  falls  upon  the  inner  sur- 
face at  a  greater  angle  or  more  obliquely,  it  will  be 
totally  reflected;  no  part  of  it  can  escape  into  the  air. 
It  is  for  this  reason  a  diamond  is  shaped  and  propor- 
tioned as  it  is  now.  Light  entering  the  face  of  a  properly- 
cut  diamond  reaches  the  back  facets  at  angles  of  total 


ii2  THE  DIAMOND 

reflection.  Sent  on  according  to  the  laws  of  light  at 
the  same  angle  as  that  of  the  incidence,  they  pass  through 
the  body  of  the  stone  to  meet  again  angles  of  total  re- 
flection, and  are  again  carried  on  until  they  emerge 
finally  from  the  front  of  it.  Look  into  the  face  of  a 
diamond  and  you  will  see  the  imprisoned  light  scintil- 
lating on  the  burnished  facets  at  the  back.  Turn  it  as 
you  will  and  wherever  you  look,  there  is  the  sheen  of 
light  playing  over  transparent  walls,  adamantine  to  it; 
an  imprisoned  star  beneath  a  covering  of  limpid  dew. 

High  refractive  power  is  accompanied  by  a  correspond- 
ing power  of  dispersion,  consequently  the  dispersive 
power  of  the  diamond  is  much  greater  than  that  of  most 
mediums.  It  is  as  .058  to  .021  in  glass.  In  the  re- 
fraction of  a  ray  of  white  light,  it  is  really  broken  into 
its  constituent  color  rays,  which  are  spread  out  spec- 
troscopically.  The  index  of  refraction  given  is  the 
mean  of  the  color  band.  To  this  high  power  of  disper- 
sion is  due  the  effect  of  color  coming  to  the  eye  with 
the  emission  of  flashlights  of  white  light  which  has 
traversed  the  stone  and  been  split  up  into  its  constituent 
colors,  by  refraction.  Many  expect  to  see  this  color 
play  from  the  diamond  under  any  light  but  sunlight 
and  some  artificial  lights  only  are  the  source  of  it.  Nor 
is  the  eye  always  sufficiently  quick  to  catch  it,  though 
an  illustration  can  be  made,  by  holding  a  diamond  to 
receive  the  sun's  rays,  and  a  sheet  of  paper  at  the  proper 
angle  to  catch  them  as  they  are  reflected  by  the  stone. 
Then  the  brilliant  rainbow  colors  will  appear. 

As  the  diamond  crystallizes  in  the  isometric  system,  in 
which  the  axes  are  equal,  the  refraction  is  normally 
single,  though  occasional  stones,  from  extraordinary 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  113 

causes,  are  found  to  be  doubly  refractive.  This  means 
that  a  ray  of  light  on  entering  the  stone  is  split  and  re- 
fracted at  two  different  angles. 

What  might  be  termed  the  reenforcement  of  the  dia- 
mond's brilliancy  is  its  hardness.  It  is  brilliant  because 
it  is  hard,  and  it  remains  brilliant  for  the  same  reason. 
Other  stones  by  the  wear  and  tear  of  contact  become 
scratched,  and  their  corners  are  roughened,  but  the  dia- 
mond, year  after  year  and  generation  after  generation, 
remains  undimmed.  The  hardest  of  all  things,  wearing 
does  not  mar  its  smooth  facets  and  sharp  corners.  It 
laughs  at  the  rough  hand  of  time.  Some  years  ago  a 
German  mineralogist  named  Moh  arranged  a  scale, 
since  known  as  Moh's  scale,  giving  the  relative  hardness 
of  various  minerals,  from  talc,  the  softest,  to  diamond, 
the  hardest.  He  made  ten  divisions  as  follows : 

1.  Talc,  common  foliated  variety. 

2.  Gypsum,  or  rock  salt. 

3.  Calcite,  transparent  variety. 

4.  Fluorspar,  crystallized  variety. 

5.  Apatite,  transparent  crystal. 

6.  Feldspar,  cleavable  variety. 

7.  Quartz,  transparent  variety. 

8.  Topaz,  transparent  crystal. 

9.  Sapphire,  cleavable  variety. 
10.  Diamond. 

These  minerals  were  selected  because  they  are  con- 
stant in  the  quality  of  hardness  and  reach  in  steps,  from 
the  softest  to  the  hardest;  but  the  difference  of  degree 
between  them  does  not  correspond  with  the  ratio  of  the 
numbers.  For  instance,  the  hardness  of  emerald  is  given 


n4  THE  DIAMOND 

as  7.5  to  7.8.  That  means  that  its  hardness  is  half  way 
or  more  between  quartz  and  topaz,  but  the  difference  be- 
tween 7  and  8  is  not  nearly  as  great  as  between  9  and  10. 
It  is  said  that  the  difference  between  9  and  10  is  greater 
than  it  is  between  9  and  i.  The  scale  therefore  does  not 
represent  exact  and  absolute  degrees  of  hardness,  but  is 
an  arrangement  of  minerals  of  different  degrees  in  that 
quality,  numbered  for  convenient  reference. 

Nor  is  the  diamond  always  of  the  same  degree  of  hard- 
ness. Stones  from  wet  diggings  are  usually  harder 
than  those  from  dry  diggings.  African  diamonds  are 
softer  than  Brazilians;  Indian  are  harder,  and  those  of 
Borneo  and  Australia  are  said  to  be  hardest  of  all. 
The  "  nyf  "  or  skin  of  a  crystal  is  harder  than  the  in- 
terior, and  frequently  there  are  knots  in  the  grain,  so 
much  harder  that  it  is  difficult  to  cut  them.  Cut  with 
or  against  the  grain  of  a  diamond,  and  the  wheel  makes 
little  impression;  it  must  be  cut  across  the  grain.  Sir 
William  Crookes  is  reported  to  have  said  of  the  Koh-i- 
noor,  that  in  cutting  one  of  the  facets  near  a  yellow  flaw, 
the  crystal  became  so  much  harder  the  further  it  was  cut, 
that  after  working  the  mill  for  six  hours  at  the  usual 
speed,  little  impression  was  made,  and  that  the  work  pro- 
ceeded very  slowly  even  when  the  speed  was  increased 
to  3,000  revolutions  per  minute.  Other  portions  of  the 
stone  were  comparatively  soft,  but  became  harder  as  the 
outside  was  cut  away. 

The  only  rival  of  the  diamond  in  hardness  is  the  metal 
tantalum,  of  which  it  is  said  that  in  the  effort  to  bore  a 
hole  through  a  plate  of  it,  a  diamond  drill  driven  at  the 
rate  of  5,000  revolutions  per  minute  for  three  days  and 
nights,  made  a  depression  *%  mm.  deep. 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  115 

It  has  long  been  known  that  some  diamonds  absorb 
light.  Robert  Boyle  in  1664  described  this  property  of 
shining  or  phosphorescing  in  the  dark,  after  being  ex- 
posed to  the  sunlight.  Late  experiments  have  again 
demonstrated  this  peculiar  power.  The  same  result  is 
obtained  by  exposing  diamonds  to  a  high-tension  current 
of  electricity  in  a  vacuum,  the  light  produced  being  of 
different  colors,  though  South  African  stones  emit  in  a 
majority  of  cases,  a  bluish  light.  Exposed  to  radium, 
diamonds  glow  with  varying  degrees  of  light  and  in  vari- 
ous colors.  Colorless  crystals  which  Sir  William 
Crookes  kept  embedded  in  radium  bromide  for  a 
period  of  12  months,  were  found  to  have  assumed  a 
bluish  tint  which  resisted  both  fire  and  acids.  They 
had  also  become  radio-active,  and  heating  to  dull 
redness  did  not  destroy  the  acquired  power.  Diamond 
is  transparent  to  the  X-rays,  while  glass  is  practically 
opaque. 

The  somewhat  general  idea  that  this  quality  of  shin- 
ing in  the  dark  is  common  to  all  diamonds  is  an  error 
founded  on  the  statement  by  careless  educators,  of  the 
truth  that  some  do  so.  Isolated  cases  have  been  men- 
tioned in  such  a  way  that  they  have  been  understood  as 
typical,  and  some  descriptions  of  phosphorescent  stones 
have  been  quite  imaginative.  Reading  in  a  dark  room  by 
the  light  of  a  phosphorescent  diamond  is  so  rare  that  no 
person  other  than  the  narrator  would  be  likely  to  meet 
with  a  similar  case.  Experiments  show  that  very  few 
diamonds,  either  by  exposure  to  sunlight  or  rubbing, 
will  show  any  light  in  a  dark  room. 

The  diamond  is  ranked  as  a  non-conductor  of  elec- 
tricity and  though,  on  rubbing,  it  becomes  positively  elec- 


n6  THE  DIAMOND 

trified,  it  retains  the  charge  for  a  very  short  time  only; 
never  more  than  half  an  hour. 

The  diamond  is  infusible,  and  is  unaffected  by  acids 
and  alkalies,  but  it  burns  in  oxygen  under  intense  heat 
to  carbon  dioxide  and  leaves  no  residue. 

Though  very  hard,  it  is  also  very  brittle  and  can  be 
easily  crushed  to  powder.  It  has  a  very  perfect  cleav- 
age, separating  readily  parallel  to  the  faces  of  the  octa- 
hedra.  The  fracture  is  conchoidal  or  curved. 

Hardness,  10  Moh's  scale. 
Specific  gravity,  3.52. 
Singly  refractive  (index,  2.439). 

Reflective.  Total  reflection  from  inner  facets  at  24°  13' 
to  24°  24'. 

Dispersive  (dispersive  power,  0.058)'. 
Burns  in  oxygen  at  4,000°. 

Because  of  its  hardness,  the  art  of  cutting  the  diamond 
as  it  is  now  cut,  was  acquired  only  after  centuries  of  ex- 
periment. The  ancients  wore  their  diamonds  uncut. 
Not  as  a  matter  of  choice,  for  they  knew  them  only  in 
that  form.  They  did  not  cut  them  because  they  could 
find  nothing  hard  enough  to  make  any  impression  upon 
the  obdurate  though  beautiful  stones.  With  Oriental 
philosophy  they  accepted  the  crystals  as  Nature  made 
them  and  were  satisfied.  To-day  even,  well-formed  crys- 
tals, or  "  Naifes,"  as  they  are  called,  are  prized  in  India. 
Some  thousands  of  years  ago,  however,  it  probably  oc- 
curred to  an  observant  Oriental  that  the  stone  might  be 
turned  against  itself  to  smooth  the  rough  places  which 
marred  the  symmetry  and  brilliancy  of  many  of  the  crys- 
tals. From  that  time  hackl'd  stones  were  improved  by 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  117 

rubbing  or  grinding  one  against  the  other,  and  smooth 
places  were  made  in  lieu  of  natural  facets.  This  was 
called  "  bruting,"  and  the  process  was  continued  for  cen- 
turies, even  till  long  after  the  art  of  cutting  them  was 
established,  in  the  grinding  down  of  the  crystal  in  prepa- 
ration for  the  wheel,  at  the  point  where  the  main  front 
facets  would  be. 

The  exterior  of  a  diamond  crystal  is  not  brilliant  like 
that  of  a  cut  diamond,  but  though  hard  looking  and  lu- 
minous, it  has  somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  piece  of 
alum.  The  "  nyf,"  as  it  is  called,  looks  like  a  dull  skin 
over  a  brilliant  body,  so  that  if  it  has  not  always  the  lus- 
ter of  a  quartz  crystal  even,  there  is  something  about  it 
which  attracts  the  eye  and  unmistakably  differentiates 
it  from  all  other  stones.  It  is  sometimes  rough,  but  one 
sees  at  once  that  the  roughness  covers  peerless  qualities. 

It  is  curiously  illustrative  of  the  Oriental  character 
that  with  a  knowledge  of  the  diamond  extending  over 
many  centuries,  they  got  no  farther  in  the  art  of  im- 
proving the  diamond  than  bruting.  The  art  of  cutting 
and  polishing  diamonds  was  discovered  in  Europe  and 
perfected  in  the  United  States  of  America.  It  was  a 
Venetian  who  cut  the  Great  Mogul  for  the  Hindu  Prince, 
after  whom,  as  the  head  of  a  dynasty,  it  was  named.  It 
is  said  there  were  diamond  polishers  in  Nuremberg  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but  the  method 
of  cutting  them  by  grinding  with  their  own  powder  is 
generally  credited  to  Ludwig  van  Berquem  or  Berghem, 
also  known  as  Louis  de  Bequem,  of  Bruges,  who  is  said 
to  have  first  done  so  in  1456.  Bruges  at  that  time  was 
at  the  height  of  its  prosperity  under  the  dukes  of  Bur- 
gundy, and  the  industry  continued  there  until,  in  th§ 


n8  THE  DIAMOND 

days  of  the  city's  misfortune  and  decadence,  it  was  trans- 
ferred with  others  to  Antwerp.  It  flourished  there  until 
the  Duke  of  Parma  took  the  city  in  1585.  This  was 
the  ruin  of  Antwerp.  Her  commerce  declined;  her  in- 
habitants were  scattered,  and  the  Dutch,  profiting  by  her 
misfortunes,  did  what  they  could  to  prevent  her  recov- 
ery. Diamond  cutting  was  driven  largely  with  other 
industries  to  Amsterdam,  which  has  since  become  the 
chief  center  of  the  industry.  The  cutters  of  Antwerp 
nevertheless  maintained  a  good  reputation,  and  some  of 
the  Crown  jewels  of  France  were  cut  there  during  the 
eighteenth  century.  With  Napoleon  in  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  fortunes  of  the  city  began  to 
mend,  and  the  diamond-cutting  industry  there  improved, 
until  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  found  it 
more  flourishing  than  in  the  former  palmy  days. 

There  were  75  diamond  cutters  in  Paris  in  1700,  but 
most  of  them  were  driven  later  by  political  troubles  to 
Antwerp,  and  comparatively  little  cutting  has  been  done 
there  since. 

Diamond  cutting  as  an  industry  of  importance  in  Am- 
sterdam was  founded  by  Jewish  cutters  from  Lisbon. 
Their  forefathers  are  said  to  have  come  originally  from 
Alexandria.  In  Lisbon  they  brought  the  art  to  a  high 
state  of  perfection  for  those  days,  but  religious  perse- 
cution, by  driving  them  out  of  that  city  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  transferred  the  industry  to 
Holland. 

In  the  first  step  toward  our  modern  cut  brilliant,  the 
paramount  idea  of  the  cutter  was,  to  polish  the  surface 
of  the  crystal  with  a  loss  of  weight  only  that  was  neces- 
sary to  secure  a  smooth  surface.  To  get  more  of  the  re- 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  119 

flective  power  of  the  stone  on  the  face  of  it,  as  a  further 
improvement,  he  ground  off  the  apex  of  the  octahedron  to 
a  flat  facet,  making  what  we  now  call  the  "  table,"  and 
took  the  tip  off  the  corresponding  point.  This  gave  a 
square  jewel  with  a  large  and  a  small  flat  facet  parallel 
to  each  other,  and  from  each  of  which  four  sloping 
facets  spread  to  meet  at  the  edges  of  the  square,  ten  in  all. 
To  yet  further  increase  the  surface  reflections  of  the 
stones,  the  corners  of  these  sloping  facets  were  ground 
off,  thereby  forming  on  top,  four  equal  pentagonal  facets 
extending  from  the  central  flat  facet  to  the  corners  of 
the  square,  and  four  shaped  like  a  keystone  between  them, 
extending  to  the  sides.  This  arrangement  changed  the 
shape  of  the  flat  facet  from  a  square  to  an  octagon.  The 
under  side  facets  were  cut  to  correspond,  so  that  with 
the  two  flat  facets  there  were  eighteen  in  all.  The 
large  flat  one  on  top  was  called  the  "  table,"  the  smaller 
one  underneath,  the  "  culet,"  and  the  others  the  "  side 
facets."  The  space  between  the  table  and  the  girdle 
came  to  be  known  as  "  bizel,"  and  that  between  the  gir- 
dle and  the  culet,  the  "  pavilion  "  or  "  collet  side." 

From  these  primitive  forms  there  was  a  gradual  addi- 
tion, in  the  effort  to  increase  dispersion  of  the  light  rays, 
to  the  number  of  facets,  and  a  tendency  toward  the 
rounding  of  the  finished  stone.  Material  improvement 
was  slow,  however.  Large  stones  were  scarce  in  those 
days,  and  the  aim  of  the  cutter  was  to  produce  as  large 
a  finished  diamond  from  the  crystal  as  possible.  The 
added  brilliancy  arising  from  an  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  facets,  gradually  forced  the  necessary  sacrifice  of 
material,  and  they  were  increased  to  thirty-four,  vari- 
ously arranged.  Some  of  the  old  square  cut  brilliants 


120  THE  DIAMOND 

had  as  many  as  fifty.  Then  came  the  English  round- 
cut  brilliant,  having  a  triple  row  of  star,  main  and  corner 
facets  between  the  table  and  the  girdle,  and  a  double  row 
of  corner  and  main  facets  from  the  girdle  to  the  culet; 
thirty-two  and  the  table  above,  and  twenty-four  and  the 
culet  below  the  girdle,  in  all  fifty-eight  facets.  This  ar- 
rangement remains  in  the  perfect  modern  cut,  for  though 
further  experiments  have  been  made,  nothing  more  ex- 
cellent has  been  devised. 

During  all  these  years  and  stages  of  improvement,  the 
cutter  did  not  get  beyond  the  idea  of  surface  brilliancy 
and  size.  Some  even  then  thought  the  small  sacrifice 
of  material  necessary  to  obtain  the  facets,  a  foolish  fad. 
They  deplored  it  as  a  tendency  to  sacrifice  magnificence 
to  mere  glitter.  Yet  the  cut  stones  were  thick  and 
lumpy  and  good  in  shape  only  when  the  crystals  favored 
them.  But  as  the  "  brilliant  "  faceting  prevailed,  so  also 
the  round  shape  met  with  public  approval,  and  the  old 
square-cut  stones  became  things  of  the  past. 

The  cutting  of  the  diamond  had  now  reached  a  stage 
wherein  full  advantage  was  taken,  by  the  number  and 
arrangement  of  the  facets,  of  the  surface  power  of  the 
stone  to  reflect  and  disperse  the  light  rays  falling  upon 
it,  and  incidentally,  to  return  part  of  the  light  entering 
the  stone,  to  the  eye,  but  the  amount  of  the  gem's  internal 
brilliancy  depended  largely  upon  the  shape  of  the  rough. 
Although  the  surface  brilliancy  of  a  polished  diamond 
is  very  great  and  beautiful,  many  of  its  dazzling  flash- 
lights come  from  the  interior.  By  taking  advantage  of 
the  angle  of  total  reflection,  light  coming  into  the  stone 
and  striking  the  interior  back  facets,  cannot  pass  through, 
but  is  sent  on  at  the  angle  of  incidence,  and  finally  re- 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  121 

turned  in  full  measure  through  the  face  of  the  diamond 
to  the  eye  of  the  beholder.  It  is  these  rays  which  are 
so  preeminently  beautiful  in  the  diamond,  and  which 
fill  the  whole  body  of  the  stone  with  light.  The  surface 
sparkles;  the  interior  emits  flashes.  It  remained  for  an 
American  cutter,  Mr.  Henry  D.  Morse,  of  Boston,  to 
make  the  daring  sacrifice  of  weight  to  proportion  neces- 
sary to  attain  the  perfection  of  the  modern  brilliant. 
Disregarding  the  European  method  of  cutting  for  weight, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  material  to  make  the  fin- 
ished stone  as  perfect  and  beautiful  as  possible.  His 
work  was  appreciated.  The  public  seeing  the  superi- 
ority of  diamonds  cut  after  his  method,  demanded  them, 
and  as  the  United  States  became  the  greatest  buyer  of 
diamonds  in  the  world,  the  cutters  of  Europe  were 
obliged  to  conform  more  and  more  to  the  American 
standard,  until  it  was  adopted  everywhere,  and  though 
naturally  all  diamonds  are  not  cut  on  absolutely  correct 
lines,  they  must  now,  to  be  salable,  be  cut  to  proportions 
which  will  secure  the  internal  angles  of  total  reflection. 
These  proportions  are  within  certain  limits  variable,  but 
will  approximate  a  depth  from  table  to  culet  of  6/io  of 
the  diameter,  of  which  about  one-third  should  be  above 
the  girdle  and  two-thirds  below.  A  little  less  than  one- 
third  of  the  depth  on  top,  if  well  cut,  gives  a  sharper 
brilliancy  with  less  weight. 

The  "  brilliant-cut "  diamond  resembles  two  cones 
united  at  their  bases,  the  upper  one  truncated  or  cut  off 
a  short  distance  from  the  base,  and  the  lower  one  having 
the  apex  only  cut  off.  It  has  fifty-eight  facets  alto- 
gether; an  eight-sided  flat  facet  on  top,  from  which 
spread  eight  triangular  star  facets,  called  top  corner 


122  THE  DIAMOND 

facets.  The  points  of  these  meet  the  points  of  sixteen 
split  triangular  facets  whose  bases  rest  on  the  girdle. 
Between  these  "  lower  corner  facets  "  and  the  top  corner 
or  star  facets,  are  eight  lozenge  or  main  facets  whose 
points  reach  from  the  table  to  the  girdle;  altogether 
thirty-two  side  facets  and  the  table,  thirty-three  in  all 
on  top.  Below  the  girdle  are  sixteen  split  triangular, 
or  "  upper  corner  on  bottom  "  facets,  whose  bases  join 
the  corresponding  ones  on  top  to  form  the  girdle,  and 
eight  pentagonal  main  facets  extending  from  the  girdle 
to  the  culet,  making  with  the  culet,  twenty-five  facets  on 
the  bottom.  A  diamond  cut  thus,  if  it  is  properly  pro- 
portioned, shows  an  equal  distribution  of  light  and  bril- 
liancy at  all  distances  from  the  eye.  The  center  under 
the  table  is  as  full  of  light  as  the  edge  facets,  because  the 
back  facets  are  holding  the  light  which  has  entered  from 
the  front.  If  the  stone  were  cut  too  deep  or  too  shallow, 
part  of  the  light  would  pass  through  the  back  facets  and 
leave  a  dark  center,  called  a  "  well "  in  a  deep  stone,  or 
a  "fish-eye"  in  a  shallow  stone. 

Diamonds  that  are  too  deep  to  be  at  their  best,  are 
called  thick  or  lumpy  stones,  and  those  that  are  too  shal- 
low are  termed  "  spread  "  stones  if  they  show  weakness 
in  the  center  at  some  distances  only,  and  fish-eyes  if  it 
is  everywhere  observable.  Mr.  O.  M.  Farrand  discov- 
ered a  method  of  remedying  over-spread  stones,  by 
elongating  the  bottom  corner  facets,  carrying  the  points 
down  24  to  7/%  of  the  distance  from  the  girdle  to  the 
culet. 

Some  stones  are  naturally  more  brilliant  than  others, 
but  many  diamonds  would  be  more  brilliant  if  cut  bet- 
ter. As  very  many  crystals  are  quite  irregular  in  shape, 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  123 

absolutely  correct  cutting  would  often  entail  too  much 
cost.  Very  many  more  persons  recognize  the  beauty 
of  a  perfectly  cut  stone  when  they  see  it,  than  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  are  willing  to  pay  the  extra  cost  in  time 
and  material  necessary  to  secure  it.  For  that  reason, 
though  the  average  cutting  to-day  is  very  good,  and 
conforms  generally  to  the  proportions  of  excellence,  a 
large  number  are  not  mathematically  exact,  and  when 
they  are  so,  the  price  appears  to  many  unreasonably 
high. 

Although  a  knife-edge  girdle  requires  care  in  setting 
the  stone,  and  renders  it  liable  to  chip  and  splinter  from 
contact  with  others  if  it  is  set  in  an  open  or  clamp  set- 
ting, it  is  ideal  cutting.  Mr.  Ernest  G.  H.  Schenck  pat- 
ented a  process  for  forming  the  stone  with  a  continuous 
polished  curved  facet  running  around  it  at  the  girdle, 
thereby  eliminating  the  unfinished  appearance  of  a  rough 
edge  and  the  liability  of  a  knife-edge  to  chip.  Some 
cutters  cover  thickness  at  the  girdle  by  polishing  the 
edge.  As  the  price  of  rough  went  up,  many  cutters,  in 
order  to  get  as  much  weight  in  the  finished  stone  as  pos- 
sible, and  therefore  more  money  for  it  without  adding 
to  the  price  per  carat,  made  the  girdle  very  thick.  In 
that  way  considerable  weight  was  added  without  attract- 
ing attention,  as  the  extra  thickness  lay  through  the  body 
of  the  stone  at  its  greatest  dimension.  These  were 
called  bicycle-tire  stones.  This  kind  of  cutting  makes  a 
diamond  cost  less  per  carat,  but  the  stone  costs  as  much  as 
one  of  the  same  size  with  a  fine  edge  which  weighs  less 
and  is  more  brilliant.  There  was  a  time,  not  long  ago, 
when  the  public  commonly  demanded  a  thick  or  deep 
stone,  because  they  thought  the  thicker  it  was,  the  better. 


124  THE  DIAMOND 

Now  many  go  to  the  other  extreme  and  want  them 
over-spread.  The  finely  cut  stone  lies  between. 

Rough  diamonds  suitable  for  cutting  to  gems  are  of 
two  classes :  "  close  "  goods  and  "  cleavage."  The  for- 
mer are  shaped  naturally  for  immediate  preparation 
for  cutting,  as  octahedrons.  Formerly  these  were  pre- 
pared by  setting  two  stones  in  handles  and  grinding 
them  together,  or  bruting,  until  a  place  was  rounded  on 
both  where  the  tables  should  be,  but  of  late  these  points 
are  sawed  off  and  utilized.  This  is  done  by  charging 
the  thin  edge  of  a  wheel  with  diamond  dust  and  cutting 
through  the  stone  by  rapid  revolutions,  as  the  facets  are 
cut  by  pressing  the  stone  against  the  flat  side  of  a  wheel 
similarly  charged.  As  soon  as  this  practice  was  estab- 
lished by  the  cutters,  the  Diamond  Syndicate  raised  the 
price  of  such  rough  to  correspond  with  the  value  of  the 
pieces  of  diamond  saved  by  the  process. 

The  polishing  of  a  diamond  is  really  the  grinding  of 
the  stone  away  by  contact  with  the  flat  surface  of  a  rap- 
idly revolving  horizontal  wheel  charged  with  diamond 
dust  and  oil.  These  wheels  are  hackled  or  grooved  to 
hold  the  abrasive  and  the  diamond  being  polished  is 
pressed  down  upon  it,  at  different  angles  for  the  various 
facets,  until  the  polishing  is  consummated. 

The  "  cutting  "  of  a  diamond  consists  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  stone  for  the  wheel,  and  takes  the  place  of 
the  old-fashioned  bruting.  It  is  done  by  setting  one 
rough  stone  in  a  turning  wheel  and  another  in  a  stick. 
The  one  in  the  stick  is  then  held  against  the  other  revolv- 
ing in  the  wheel,  and  they  grind  each  other  down  to  a 
girdle,  from  which  the  stones  are  rounded  up  to  a  low 
dome  for  the  table  side,  and  a  higher  dome  for  the  culet 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  125 

side.  The  turning  wheel  can  be  thrown  off  the  center 
so  as  to  take  certain  parts  of  the  crystal  out  of  the  grind 
in  case  of  dangerous  flaws.  The  process  consists  really 
in  roughing  out  the  outlines  of  the  stone  as  it  is  to  be, 
and  cuts  to  dust  about  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  weight  lost 
in  the  entire  process.  Some  cutters  saw  the  octahedrons 
through  the  center  and  then  cut  a  shallow  bizel  side, 
round  off  the  corners  for  the  pavilion  and  send  it  to  the 
wheel  for  the  faceting  or  polishing.  By  this  method 
they  get  over  fifty  per  cent,  in  cut  goods  out  of  the  rough 
material.  The  temptation  is  to  cut  the  top  side  of  the 
girdle  too  shallow  for  perfect  brilliancy,  in  order  to  save 
weight.  This  was  done  frequently  in  Antwerp,  and  those 
shallow  top  stones  are  often  called  "  Antwerp  cut" 

By  new  methods  now  in  vogue,  the  loss  of  material  in 
cutting  has  been  reduced  from  sixty  per  cent,  to  fifty 
and  in  some  cases  forty  per  cent.,  and  the  work  can  be 
done  in  very  much  less  time.  Health  conditions  have 
also  been  greatly  improved  by  the  new  methods.  In  the 
old  way,  setters  were  menaced  with  lead  poisoning 
through  the  continued  handling  of  lead  in  the  frequent 
resetting  of  stones  in  the  dop. 

Not  very  long  ago  the  setting  of  stones  for  the  wheel 
was  done  in  a  very  crude  way  and  consumed  much  time. 
The  diamond  was  set  in  a  mixture  of  lead  and  tin  in  a 
metal  cup,  A  small  part  of  the  stone  was  left  exposed 
and  a  mark  indicating  the  grain  of  the  stone  made  on 
the  solder.  This  method  required  frequent  resetting. 
During  the  entire  process,  the  direction  of  the  grain  was 
noted  and  a  mark  made  for  the  guidance  of  the  polisher. 
Each  facet  had  a  name  by  which  the  grain  and  how  to 
polish  it  was  known.  Since  diamond  cutting  has  been 


126  THE  DIAMOND 

done  largely  in  this  country,  many  improvements  have 
been  made.  A  dop,  as  the  holder  of  diamonds  on  the 
cutting  wheel  is  named,  is  now  made,  which  holds  the 
stone  in  claws>  doing  away  with  the  troublesome  use  of 
fusible  metal,  and  is  so  constructed  with  mechanical  de- 
vices that  the  whole  set  of  facets  can  be  accurately 
gauged  for  the  presentation  of  the  stone  on  the  cutting 
wheel.  The  wheel  makes  about  2,000  revolutions  per 
minute  and  it  has  been  calculated  that  to  polish  a  dia- 
mond weighing  100  carats  in  the  rough,  a  wheel  would 
revolve  over  52,000,000  times. 

As  Europe  did  more  to  advance  the  art  of  cutting  dia- 
monds in  a  few  centuries  than  the  Orient  did  in  several 
thousands  of  years,  so  the  United  States  has  done  more 
in  the  last  decade  than  Europe  did  in  the  centuries.  As 
in  other  matters,  they  have  taken  advantage  of  the  old 
world's  many  years'  experience  to  develop  the  knowledge 
gained  into  practical  appliances.  Precious  stones  have 
been  long  sawed  by  the  Chinese,  with  a  string  charged 
with  oil  and  emery,  spun  over  a  bow.  It  is  said  that 
sawing  was  done  on  the  Regent  with  lead  strips  charged 
with  diamond  dust,  a  process  possible  only  where  time 
and  labor  counted  for  practically  nothing.  When  the 
United  States  took  hold  of  the  industry,  machines  were 
soon  perfected  to  rip  a  diamond  in  any  direction  at  a 
minimum  expense  of  both  time  and  labor.  To-day  there 
are  numerous  patents  for  sawing,  convenient  dops,  and 
devices  for  sawing  and  splitting  the  crystal,  whereby 
time,  labor  and  costly  material  is  saved. 

Cleavages  are  crystals  of  a  shape  out  of  proportion  to 
a  cut  stone.  These  are  split  into  suitable  pieces  before 
going  into  the  cutter's  hands.  Imperceptible  as  it  is  to 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  127 

an  inexperienced  eye,  diamonds  have  a  grain  along  which 
they  can  be  split  as  wood  is  split,  only  much  more  evenly 
and  exactly.  This  grain  is  parallel  with  the  faces  of  the 
octahedra.  Advantage  is  taken  of  this  to  save  material 
and  the  labor  which  would  otherwise  be  expended  in 
grinding  away  superfluous  parts,  to  eliminate  interior 
flaws,  and  also  to  improve  the  color,  for  by  judicious 
cleaving  a  number  of  parts  of  a  crystal  may  be  made  to 
yield  a  finer  color  than  that  of  the  crystal  in  its  entirety. 

To  be  a  good  cleaver  one  must  be  familiar  with  rough 
diamonds  and  have  good  judgment;  the  operation  itself 
is  simple.  Having  studied  a  crystal  and  decided  just 
where  and  how  to  cleave  it,  the  cleaver  takes  the  edge  of 
another  rough  diamond  fastened  in  a  convenient  handle, 
and  grinds  it  across  the  edge  at  the  point  where  the  stone 
is  to  be  split,  until  there  is  an  incision  proportionate  to 
the  size  of  the  crystal  being  operated  on.  He  then  uses 
other  "  sharps,"  as  the  cutting  edges  are  called,  until 
the  incision  has  the  appearance  of  a  V-shaped  nick. 
Placing  the  blunt  edge  of  a  flat  piece  of  steel  like  a  short 
ruler,  in  the  incision,  he  strikes  the  other  edge  a  smart 
blow  with  a  small  hammer,  and  the  crystal  divides,  the 
two  planes  of  the  cleft  smooth  and  shining  as  glass. 
After  examining  the  pieces,  he  places  them  in  the  little 
lock-box  always  before  him,  lights  a  fresh  cigarette,  and 
picks  up  another  crystal  for  examination.  About 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  diamonds  found  require 
cleaving. 

Another  form  of  cutting  is  the  "  rose  cut/'  used  prin- 
cipally for  cheap  cluster  work  in  countries  where  the  peo- 
ple are  not  as  critical  and  have  less  money  to  spend  than 
those  of  the  United  States.  Rose  cut  diamonds  are  high 


128  THE  DIAMOND 

or  low  faceted  domes  over  a  flat  base.  They  are  cut 
usually  from  the  odds  and  ends  of  crystals,  small  flat 
crystals,  and  pieces  which  cannot  be  used  for  brilliants. 
Most  of  them  are  cut  in  small  sizes,  though  some  large 
ones  are  cut  from  flat  crystals  which  will  not  afford  a 
brilliant.  The  "  Dutch  "  rose  has  twenty-four  facets  in 
two  rows  of  equal  depth.  The  "  Brabant  "  rose  has  one 
deep  row  below,  surmounted  by  a  shallow  row.  This  is 
cut  also  with  twelve  facets  or  less.  The  "  Rose  recoupee  " 
has  two  rows  of  high  facets,  twenty-six  in  number.  The 
"  marquise  "  and  "  pendeloque,"  each  have  twenty- four 
facets,  and  the  "  double  "  rose,  which  is  like  two  ordi- 
nary roses  joined  at  their  bases,  has  forty-eight  facets. 
"  Briolettes  "  are  pear-shaped,  or  oval  stones  faceted  all 
over  with  triangular  facets.  The  "  Pendeloque "  is  a 
brilliant-cut,  pear-shaped  stone.  The  "  Rondelle  "  is  a 
flat,  circular  stone  with  faceted  edges,  usually  pierced 
in  the  center  for  stringing  between  other  stones  of  bead 
shape ;  they  are  seldom  cut  in  diamond.  "  India-cut " 
is  a  clumsy  form  of  the  single  brilliant-cut,  adopted  by 
East  India  cutters  to  preserve  weight,  and  is  rarely  seen 
in  western  markets.  "  Point-cut "  is  only  found  in  an- 
tique jewels.  It  is  produced  by  polishing  the  faces  of  a 
regular  octahedron. 

Great  care  is  not  exercised  usually  in  the  cutting  of 
roses.  Theoretically  the  facets  are  even  and  regularly 
placed,  but  usually  the  stones  are  simply  covered  with  un- 
even flat  facets  to  catch  the  light  and  glitter.  They  make 
very  unsatisfactory  jewels,  for  set  them  as  carefully  as 
possible,  dirt  will  collect  under  the  flat  backs  and  produce 
a  dark,  unclean  effect.  Most  of  them  are  cut  in  very 
small  sizes,  many  as  small  as  several  hundred  to  the  carat. 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  129 

This  seems  incredible,  but  a  more  marvelous  fact  is  that 
full-cut  brilliants  with  their  beautiful  arrangement  of 
numerous  facets  are  also  cut  to  such  sizes,  one  hundred 
to  the  carat  being  not  uncommon.  The  thicker  roses 
of  twenty- four  facets  are  also  called  "  roses  couronees  " 
and  the  six  and  twelve  facet  roses,  cut  chiefly  in  Antwerp, 
are  known  as  "  roses  d'Anvers." 

Single  or  eight-cut  brilliants  are  used  to  some  extent 
in  the  United  States  in  small  sizes  for  cheap  work. 
These  are  shaped  like  the  brilliant,  but  have  eight  side 
facets  on  top  and  eight  on  the  bottom,  running  from  the 
girdle  to  the  table  and  from  the  girdle  to  the  culet.  In 
a  paper  of  melee,  the  cut  is  not  always  observed,  and 
though  they  are  much  less  sparkling  when  mounted  in 
clusters  than  the  full-cut,  many  do  not  learn  it  until,  after 
buying  the  jewel,  it  comes  in  comparison  with  the  more 
expensive  jewel  made  of  the  full  cut  brilliant  stones. 

Of  late,  in  response  to  a  demand  for  novel  effects, 
many  diamonds  of  the  finer  qualities  have  been  cut  square, 
marquise,  pear-shape  and  heart-shape.  Most  of  them 
are  cut  after  the  brilliant  order  of  faceting,  but  some 
of  the  square  stones  are  ^ut  with  straight  parallel  facets 
or  "  table-cut,"  similar  to  the  usual  cutting  of  emeralds. 
These  are  not  used  for  popular-priced  jewels,  but  are 
confined  to  expensive  pieces  for  a  class  who  do  not  re- 
gard cost.  Among  the  novelties  in  cutting  introduced 
during  the  last  decade,  one  only  attracted  wide  attention. 
It  was  patented  by  a  New  York  importer  and  for  a  time 
it  appeared  possible  that  the  form  might  become  per- 
manent. It  is  known  as  the  "  twentieth-century  "  cut. 
The  diamond  is  cut  round,  but  the  side  outline  shows  a 

shoulder  above  the  girdle  and  the  pavilion  is  somewhat 
9 


i3o  THE  DIAMOND 

bellied.  The  shape  of  the  facets  also  differs  from  those 
of  the  brilliant-cut  and  there  are  eighty  of  them.  The 
table  is  replaced  by  a  low  pyramid  of  facets  meeting  at 
a  point  in  the  center.  It  has  not  proved  popular. 

A  process  of  grooving  diamonds  has  been  patented. 
Parallel  grooves  around  stones  having  8,  10,  12,  or  18 
sides  are  sometimes  cut  and  regular  facets  are  cut  con- 
cave. Diamonds  cut  thus  have  not  yet  appeared  on  the 
market. 

In  Amsterdam  there  are  64  factories  with  an  aggre- 
gate of  7,000  mills  and  employing  about  9,000  persons. 
Wages  of  setters,  cutters,  and  polishers,  range  from 
about  ten  to  fourteen  dollars  per  week.  Cleavers  are 
paid  from  fourteen  to  twenty  dollars  per  week.  Ten 
hours  is  the  working  day.  Antwerp  employs  from  4,000 
to  5,000,  of  whom  70  are  women.  Sorters  get  six  to 
ten  dollars  per  week  and  the  other  workers  are  paid 
about  the  same  as  those  of  Amsterdam.  In  Paris  there 
are  a  number  of  cutting  shops,  but  very  few  of  them  are 
for  cutting  diamonds  only.  It  is  so  also  in  London, 
therefore  neither  city  is  regarded  as  an  important  center 
of  the  cutting  industry. 

Cutting  in  the  United  States  was  first  begun  about 
1866.  Mr.  Henry  D.  Morse  of  Boston,  who  soon  had 
a  good  reputation  for  fine  cutting,  operated  up  to  fifteen 
or  twenty  mills.  A  few  later  followed  his  lead,  mostly 
as  repairers  only,  however,  but  about  1881  the  old  New 
York  diamond  importing  house,  Randel  &  Baremore, 
afterwards  Randel,  Baremore  &  Billings,  opened  a  cut- 
ting shop  in  connection  with  their  importing  business, 
under  the  management  of  John  B.  Humphrey,  the  dia- 
mond cutter  of  Boston,  Later  the  shop  was  in  the 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  1.131 

charge  of  Mr.  Charles  H.  Bent,  who  learned  the  trade 
with  Mr.  Morse.  They  operated  about  twenty  mills. 
At  that  time  there  was  but  one  other  shop  of  the  size  in 
New  York.  Although  numerous  small  shops  were 
opened  from  time  to  time,  it  was  not  until  early  in  the 
nineties  that  any  large  cutting  establishments,  operating 
simply  as  cutters  after  the  European  manner,  were 
started  in  New  York.  There  are  now  eight  or  nine 
which  keep  twenty  to  seventy-five  mills  going,  and  there 
are  four  to  five  hundred  persons  employed  in  the  indus- 
try. The  polishers  earn  from  $24  to  $60  per  week. 
Many  of  the  cutters,  saw  men  and  cleavers,  work  by  the 
piece,  some  of  them,  especially  the  latter,  earning  very 
large  wages  when  employed. 

By  1897  our  imports  of  rough  were  considerably  over 
one  million  dollars  per  annum.  In  1899  they  were 
nearly  five  millions,  and  though  they  fell  below  four  mil- 
lions the  following  year,  they  went  to  over  six  and  a  half 
millions  in  1901  and  to  about  eight  and  a  quarter  millions 
in  1902. 

The  imports  of  rough  have  been  as  follows: 

to  June  30,  1873  $176,426 

1874  144,629 

l875  21 1,92O 

1876  186,404 

1877 78,033 

1878  63,270 

1879  104,158 

1880  129,207 

1881  233,596 

1882 449,513 

1883  i 441,996 

1884  367,816 

1885  371,679 


132  THE  DIAMOND 

to  Dec.  31,  1886   302,822 

1887    262,357 

1888   244,876 

1889   196,294 

1890   340,915 

From  1891  to  1896  inclusive,  rough  in  government 
statistics  was  either  included  with  all  other  uncut  pre- 
cious stones,  or  with  unset  diamonds  and  other  precious 
stones. 

1897   $  1,386,726 

1898  2,513,800 

1899  4,896,324 

1900  3,658,645 

1901  6,592,469 

1902  8,221,589 

1903  10,275,800 

1904  10,234,587 

1905  10,281,111 

1906  11,676,529 

1907   8,311,912 

1908    2,287,440 

From  1873  to  1883  inclusive,  these  figures  include 
glaziers'  diamonds  and  other  diamonds,  except  those  for 
jewels  and  diamond  dust. 

From  1884  to  1890  inclusive,  they  are  for  rough  or 
uncut  diamonds  alone. 

From  1891  to  1896  inclusive,  rough  was  included  with 
other  items  so  that  definite  figures  cannot  be  given. 
From  that  time  the  figures  stand  for  rough  only. 

The  amount  for  1908  includes  all  uncut  diamonds 
except  bort,  which  amounted  to  $180,389. 

Import  statistics  as  published  from  time  to  time  are 
misleading,  as  they  are  sometimes  given  for  the  year 
ending  June  30  and  at  other  times  for  the  year  ending 


INHERENT  QUALITIES  133 

December  31.  The  figures  also  cover  at  times  one  or  all 
of  the  various  kinds  of  uncut  diamonds,  i.  e.,  miners, 
glaziers,  engravers,  bort  and  dust.  In  some  cases  other 
rough  precious  stones  are  also  included  under  the  one 
heading  of  "  diamonds  uncut."  As  nearly  as  possible 
the  foregoing  figures  represent  the  amount  in  value  of 
rough  diamonds  imported  to  be  cut  to  jewels. 


CHAPTER  VII 

COLOR   AND    FLAWS 

COLOR  is  one  of  the  most  important  qualities  of 
the  diamond.  Generally,  fine  color  means  the  ab- 
sence of  color,  or  a  pure,  clean,  colorless  transparency. 
As  tints  appear  in  it,  the  stone  is  called  off-color,  which 
means  that  the  color  is  not  good.  Tints  of  pink  and 
blue,  however,  are  considered  extra  fine.  So  also  fine 
color  sometimes  means  a  rich  or  rare  color  as  the  term 
is  usually  applied,  as  pink,  green,  blue,  yellow,  etc.,  for 
the  diamond  occurs  in  these  and  other  colors  in  various 
tints  and  shades. 

Color  in  diamonds  is  the  opportunity  of  many  dealers, 
and  the  despair  of  others,  for  it  is  very  deceptive,  and 
the  public  is  so  confident  about  what  it  thinks  it  sees. 
What  it  really  does  see  is  not  always  inherent,  but  is  re- 
flected into  the  stone  from  the  gold  in  which  it  is  set,  or 
by  conditions  of  the  light  under  which  it  is  seen. 

Usually  the  diamond  is  white  with  a  tint  of  yellow, 
brown,  or  green.  The  yellow-tinted  are  by  far  the  most 
common,  the  brown  are  abundant,  but  the  green  are  com- 
paratively few  and  come  mostly  from  one  district,  i.  e., 
Bahia  in  Brazil.  Absolutely  colorless,  or  white  stones, 
are  rare;  so  also  are  those  having  a  bluish  tint.  All 
these  are  included  in  the  general  term  "  white,"  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  "  fancies,"  which  are  stones  of 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  135 

such  decided  depth  of  color  as  to  make  them  desirable 
on  that  account. 

Diamonds  not  distinguished  by  a  color  prefix  are 
graded  and  quoted  by  dealers  as  follows: 

"  Jagers  "  are  white  stones  with  a  bluish  tint.  They 
are  popularly  supposed  to  be  from  the  Jagersfontein  mine 
of  the  Orange  River  Colony  in  South  Africa,  as  many 
of  the  stones  from  this  mine  are  of  that  character,  but 
all  diamonds  of  similar  quality  except  "  Rivers,"  after 
they  leave  the  cutter,  are  now  included  under  the  name. 

Next  to  these  and  preferred  by  many  are  the  "  Rivers." 
These  are  white  stones  of  extreme  purity  and  extraor- 
dinary hardness,  found  in  river  beds.  The  brilliancy  is 
peculiarly  sharp  and  the  color  by  comparison  with  other 
white  stones  reminds  one  of  snow.  The  perfection  of 
these  qualities  distinguish  stones  taken  from  wet  dig- 
gings, and  though  all  "  Rivers "  have  not  the  color 
requisite  for  this  classification  and  some  have  a  bluish 
tint  like  the  Jagers,  it  is  generally  conceded  that  they 
are  all  harder  and  therefore  more  brilliant  than  those 
from  dry  diggings.  The  fine  white  stones  of  Brazil 
and  India,  unless  old-cut,  are  now  included  under  this 
head.  Old-cut  stones  of  this  character  are  termed  "  Old 
Mine." 

The  next  grade  is  called  Wesselton,  after  a  mine  in 
South  Africa  of  that  name.  The  color  is  very  nearly 
equal  to  the  Rivers,  though  it  lacks  somewhat  of  the 
purity  and  snow-whiteness  of  the  latter  and  the  bril- 
liancy is  not  quite  as  sharp. 

"  Crystals,"  which  are  subdivided  into  "  top  crys- 
tals "  and  "  crystals,"  are  white  stones  showing  a  trace  of 
yellow  when  compared  with  the  higher  grades.  These 


136  THE  DIAMOND 

are  the  white  stones  of  the  high-class  jewelers.  Dia- 
monds of  the  color  known  to  the  general  public  as  white, 
are  called  in  the  trade,  "  silver  capes."  They  also  are 
graded  as  "  silver  capes "  and  "  top  silver  capes." 
"  Capes,"  also  subdivided  in  the  same  way,  are  tinted  still 
deeper  and  are  sold  to  the  public  often  as  "  commercial 
white."  "  By-water  "  are  quite  yellow,  though  the  color 
is  not  deep  enough  to  place  them  among  the  fancies,  and 
is  sufficiently  lost  to  the  eye  when  mounted  to  warrant 
their  retention  in  the  list  of  white  stones. 

Browns  are  all  included  under  the  one  classification. 
Those  having  an  almost  imperceptible  shade  of  brown  are 
separated  and  sold  as  steel-white,  pink,  etc.  Fancy 
browns  are  not  included  in  this  grade. 

The  green-tinted  diamonds,  being  little  known  by  the 
public  and  many  dealers,  are  used  by  manufacturers  and 
sold  when  mounted,  as  white.  As  those  who  look  for 
color  have  only  yellow  in  mind,  the  greenish  hue  is  sel- 
dom detected,  especially  as  stones  of  this  character  rarely 
weigh  much  over  y2  carat  and  are  usually  smaller.  A 
few  are  of  sufficiently  deep  color  to  be  classed  as  fancies. 
They  are  a  light  apple-green  similar  to  the  Willemite. 

In  the  list  of  fancies  which  have  been  found,  are  the 
following,  given  in  the  order  of  their  rarity,  the  first 
being  most  rare.  Emerald  green,  red,  sapphire  blue 
(invariably  of  poor  color),  pink  (seldom  more  than  a 
tint),  black,  orange,  canary,  coffee-brown,  reddish-brown, 
golden-brown,  and  tints  of  violet  and  blue  which  are  the 
more  rare  as  they  become  deeper. 

There  is  another  class  of  stones  the  color  of  which 
varies  materially  according  to  the  light  in  which  they  are 
viewed.  These  are  classified  as  "  false  colors."  As  the 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  137 

new  Premier  mine  of  South  Africa  produces  many  of 
this  character,  they  are  now  becoming  known  as 
"  Premiers."  Generally  they  are  more  or  less  cloudy  or 
milky,  with  a  bluish  tint  which  changes  in  some  lights 
to  a  yellowish  or  brownish  shade.  They  are  very  decep- 
tive, and  are  often  sold  under  favorable  conditions  for 
better  than  they  are.  Many  dealers  as  well  as  the  public 
are  deceived  by  them. 

These  are  the  classifications  which  have  grown  out  of 
the  close  methods  of  the  London  Diamond  Syndicate,  but 
notwithstanding  the  sharp  lines  of  difference  which  have 
been  drawn,  in  the  determination  to  extract  the  last 
penny  from  the  public  for  every  item  of  quality,  there 
yet  remain  differences  of  tint,  and  quality  of  color,  in 
individual  stones,  sufficient  to  puzzle  the  judgment  even 
of  the  dealer,  and  it  is  often  found  difficult  to  match 
perfectly  a  pair  of  stones  from  a  parcel,  closely  graded  as 
they  are.  There  is  reason  too  for  the  fact  that  experts 
sometimes  differ  in  their  judgment  when  comparing  two 
particular  stones. 

To  understand  the  condition,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  color  is  not  a  thing  of  itself  or  an  exact  quantity  or 
quality  of  a  thing,  but  an  optical  phenomenon.  It  is  a 
sensation  conveyed  through  the  eye  to  the  brain  by  vibra- 
tions or  waves  of  certain  lengths  and  rapidities  of 
motion,  which  in  the  transmission  become  to  us  what  we 
know  as  color,  some  waves  producing  the  sensation  of 
one  color,  some  another,  as  sound  varies  to  the  ear  in 
the  notes  of  an  octave.  The  white  light  of  the  sun  is 
the  sum  of  these  variations.  This  white  light  may  be 
decomposed,  and  the  constituent  rays  shown  in  the  spec- 
troscope, as  the  primary  colors  from  red  to  violet,  to- 


138  THE  DIAMOND 

gether  with  others  which  result,  in  their  effect  upon  the 
eye,  from  modifications  by  combination  with  each  other. 
These  colors  appear  in  the  spectroscope  to  the  eye,  in 
horizontal  bands  of  variable  width  according  to  the 
media  through  which  the  light  passes,  as  violet,  indigo, 
blue,  green,  yellow,  orange  and  red.  Now  the  different 
elements  of  the  various  objects  we  see,  when  white  light 
falls  upon  them,  absorb  some  of  its  constituent  rays  and 
return  some  to  the  eye  separated  from  the  others,  thereby 
producing  the  various  sensations  of  color.  There  are 
several  reasons,  however,  why  persons  differ  in  their 
judgment  of  them.  Practically  every  stone  has  qualities 
which  would  produce  a  definite  degree  of  color  to  the 
eye  under  the  same  conditions.  But  exactly  the  same 
conditions  always  are  almost  impossible,  for  the  varia- 
tion of  position  when  the  stones  are  placed  side  by  side 
is  sometimes  sufficient  to  affect  the  light  vibrations  and 
therefore  the  color  appearance  to  the  eye,  in  favor  of 
one  of  them. 

Again,  the  eyes  which  see,  vary.  A  ray  of  pure  white 
light  passed  through  a  prism  divides,  on  the  screen,  into 
the  spectroscopic  bands,  which  merge  one  into  the  other 
in  a  definite  unvarying  gradation,  but  no  two  persons 
would  draw  the  dividing  lines  between  them  in  the  same 
places.  One  sees  more  yellow  and  less  green  and  the 
others  vice  versa.  Beyond  this,  it  is  being  found  that 
many  people  are  absolutely  blind  to  some  colors.  There 
is  of  course  a  normal  average  perception,  but  many  are 
not  up  to  that  average,  and  of  those  above  it,  few  have 
trained  the  faculty,  under  the  distractions  of  a  broken 
surface  of  sharply  reflective  and  refractive  material,  suf- 
ficiently to  see  clearly  the  exact  color  of  it.  The  sensa- 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  139 

tion  of  the  yellow  ray  which  reaches  the  brains  of  some, 
could  not  be  conducted  by  the  optic  nerve  of  others. 

Experts  are  slow  to  pass  judgment  on  the  high  grades 
of  diamonds  in  a  poor  light  or  unfamiliar  surroundings 
and  for  one  to  say  positively  that  the  color  of  a  very 
fine  stone,  is  better  or  poorer  than  that  of  a  similar  one, 
without  comparison,  is  rash,  and  good  evidence  that  he 
is  not  familiar  with  that  kind  of  material.  One's 
physical  condition  also  influences  the  perception  of  color. 
Experience  teaches  many  dealers  that  there  are  days 
when  they  are  not  in  good  condition  to  buy  diamonds. 
There  are  few  but  wonder  at  times,  as  they  become  bet- 
ter acquainted  with  their  purchases,  how  they  could  have 
paid  as  much  as  they  did  for  certain  lots. 

Surrounding  buildings,  the  color  of  the  walls  and 
ceilings  of  a  room,  association,  the  kind  of  mounting  it 
is  in,  all  affect  the  apparent  color  of  a  diamond. 
Jewelers  frequently  hurt  their  diamond  trade  by  paper- 
ing the  walls  and  ceilings  of  their  stores  with  yellow, 
brown,  or  crushed  strawberry,  for  which  many  seem 
to  have  a  predilection,  or  are  damaged  by  a  neighbor 
across  the  street  painting  the  front  of  his  building  with 
some  vivid  tint.  The  light  is  thereby  tainted  and  the 
adulteration  is  reflected  in  the  diamond. 

The  quality  of  the  light  under  which  a  stone  is  viewed 
has  much  to  do  with  the  apparent  color.  A  cloudy  day 
will  darken  the  color  of  some  and  neutralize  that  of 
others.  Dealers  sometimes  take  advantage  of  such  con- 
ditions; they  are  frequently  embarrassed  and  lose  sales 
by  them.  The  best  light  in  which  to  judge  fine  shades 
of  color  is  an  unimpeded  north  light. 

It  will  be  understood  by  the  foregoing  that  for  a  per- 


140  THE  DIAMOND 

son  who  has  not  had  sufficient  experience  to  instinctively 
estimate  and  balance  the  various  influences  by  which  he 
may  be  surrounded,  it  is  quite  difficult  to  grade  a  stone 
at  sight. 

Looking  intently  or  for  a  considerable  period  at  some 
decided  color  just  prior  to  looking  at  a  diamond,  will 
influence  the  judgment.  Some  effect  of  the  accidental 
or  complementary  color  thereby  produced,  undoubtedly 
remains,  and  becoming  mixed  with  the  new  impression, 
produces  a  sensation  of  color  which  is  not  true  to  the 
last  thing  brought  under  observation.  For  instance,  if 
one,  after  working  for  some  time  over  a  paper  of  emer- 
alds, were  suddenly  called  upon  to  judge  a  fine  white 
diamond,  he  would  probably  see  a  tinge  of  brown  in  it. 
The  brown  would  not  be  in  the  stone ;  it  would  be  a  left- 
over impression,  or  the  ocular  spectra  produced  by 
gazing  at  the  green  emeralds.  In  a  like  manner 
amethysts  or  blue  sapphires  would  prejudice  against 
white  stones  by  creating  an  impression  of  yellow.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  blue  of  a  bluish  white  stone  would 
be  intensified  to  a  purplish  or  violet  tint  by  first  fixing  the 
eye  for  a  short  time  upon  yellow  sapphires  or  topaz,  or 
a  canary  diamond.  The  off-hand  adverse  criticism  by 
a  buyer,  or  the  buyer's  adviser,  of  a  stone  which  is  really 
white,  often  tempts  the  dealer  to  allow  his  customer  to 
deceive  himself  and  sometimes  obliges  him  to  sell  a 
poorer  stone  at  a  higher  price  than  that  he  would  have 
preferred  to  sell. 

Color  is  often  unequally  distributed  through  the  stone, 
or  the  elements  which  cause  the  sensation  of  color  are 
so  placed  that  position  modifies  it.  There  are  stones 
which  show  more  color  when  viewed  from  the  back  than 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  141 

when  faced  up  to  the  eye.  In  others  it  appears  deeper 
when  viewed  edgewise  than  in  any  other  direction.  Oc- 
casionally the  poorest  color  appears  in  the  face  of  the 
stone,  but  this  is  seldom  the  case,  as  cutters  and  cleavers 
naturally  try  to  arrange  their  work  so  that  the  best  will 
come  to  the  front  in  the  finished  product. 

The  cutting  of  a  stone  has  its  influence  on  the  ap- 
parent color.  One  that  is  cut  shallow  will  not  appear 
to  have  as  much  as  it  really  has.  A  thickly  cut  stone 
makes  it  more  perceptible.  If  the  body  of  a  stone  is 
white  and  the  culet  is  cut  in  a  bit  of  color,  that  will  ap- 
pear throughout  the  stone  when  it  is  faced  upj  Oriental 
cutters  take  advantage  of  this  in  the  cutting  of  rubies 
and  sapphires  especially,  by  placing  the  culet  in  a 
stratum  of  good  color,  even  if  they  must  spoil  the  shape 
of  the  stone  to  do  so.  Diamonds  are  not  affected  thus 
to  the  same  degree,  because  they  seldom  have  strata  of 
decided  color  and  when  they  do,  the  tints  are  so  weak 
that  the  differences  are  not  easily  distinguished,  though 
the  result  is  noticeable  as  an  uncertain  color  which 
varies  with  the  changes  of  light  and  position  in  which  it 
is  seen.  These  are  the  false  color  stones.  Most  of 
them  appear  blue  with  a  tendency  to  violet  under  a  strong 
natural  light,  the  tint  becoming  stronger  and  therefore 
better  as  the  stone  approaches  the  eye.  Uusually  the 
blue  shows  to  best  advantage  under  a  loup  with  an  inch 
focus,  though  one  experienced,  by  moving  the  stone  to 
different  angles,  will  catch  fugitive  glimpses  of  the 
deteriorating  hues  included.  These  are  generally  yellow, 
sometimes  brown.  Upon  removing  these  stones  from  the 
clear  sunlight  to  a  mixed  or  artificial  light,  the  inferior 
colors  become  dominant. 


i42  THE  DIAMOND 

There  is  another  item  of  importance,  though  it  escapes 
general  observation.  It  is  the  quality  of  color.  In 
fancies,  the  hues  being  deep,  it  is  more  noticeable  and 
therefore  regarded.  A  fine  canary  is  of  a  clean  bright 
yellow  like  the  feathers  of  the  bird  after  which  it  is 
named.  Frequently  the  yellow  is  tainted  by  a  greenish 
cast;  many  have  a  dark,  murky  quality,  and  are  really 
very  deep  by-waters.  Inferior  browns  are  of  an  ashen 
or  blackish  character.  Of  the  other  colors  in  which 
the  diamond  occurs,  greens  and  orange  are  generally 
good,  as  the  apple-green,  if  less  rare  and  desirable  than 
the  emerald-green,  is  nevertheless  very  beautiful,  and 
orange  is  always  so.  Absinthe-green  diamonds  are  some- 
times very  pleasing,  though  stones  of  this  color  are  apt 
to  have  an  oily  appearance  like  some  zircons,  in  which 
case  the  center  is  dark.  Occasionally  these  show  wide 
variations  of  color  under  different  lights;  one  in  New 
York  being  absinthe-green,  golden,  brown,  and  red,  ac- 
cording to  the  light  in  which  it  is  seen.  In  red,  the 
diamond  never  approaches  the  magnificence  of  the  ruby, 
and  in  sapphire  blue  it  is  seldom  equal  to  a  good  Ceylon 
sapphire  even.  The  famous  Hope  diamond  would  be 
considered  quite  inferior  as  a  sapphire. 

In  the  variously  tinted  white  stones,  and  the  untinted 
white,  quality  of  color  is  more  elusive.  The  white  will 
be  found  by  comparison  to  be  blackish,  steely,  or  snowy. 
The  latter  is  characteristic  of  river  stones,  especially 
the  Indian  when  they  are  white,  and  is  in  the  opinion 
of  some,  the  superior  of  all,  because  it  is  the  cleanest 
and  purest.  There  is  something  intensely  fascinating 
about  one  of  these  pure  white  stones,  and  it  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  members  of  families  which  have  for 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  143 

generations  owned  fine  gems,  if  they  are  interested  in 
precious  stones,  instinctively  prefer  them.  They  are  al- 
most invariably  the  choice  of  persons  to  "  the  manner 
born."  Most  of  the  white  stones  marketed  are  of  the 
steel  white  variety,  and  they  are  finer  than  the  blackish, 
which  are  few  and  undesirable. 

The  quality  of  yellow-white  stones  varies  from  a  clean 
bright  yellow  to  a  dark  and  somewhat  muddy  shade,  in 
gradations  so  fine  that  only  an  experienced  eye  can 
detect  them  by  comparison.  The  more  clean  the  yellow 
of  the  tint,  the  better  it  is.  Brown-white  range  from 
ashen  to  red-brown  and  are  all  undesirable,  as  they 
look  dark  when  mounted. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  in  writing  of  quality 
of  color  no  reference  is  made  to  its  depth,  but  its  char- 
acter only.  In  a  general  way  the  quality  of  color  is 
better,  as  in  fancies,  when  it  is  clean  and  bright,  and 
poorer  as  it  becomes  dark  or  muddy. 

Color  is  affected  by  the  mounting  in  which  the  dia- 
mond is  set.  Usually  platinum  neutralizes  yellow  tints 
to  some  extent,  and  is  helpful  to  most  white  diamonds. 
To  some,  however,  it  imparts  a  leaden  appearance. 
Polished  gold  is  more  apt  to  give  an  appearance  of 
color  to  a  white  stone  than  the  dull  yellow  of  roman 
gold.  Nothing  marks  more  the  individuality  which 
diamonds  possess  than  a  study  of  them  in  different  mount- 
ings. They  will  appear  smaller  or  larger,  whiter  or 
more  off-color,  brilliant  or  leaden,  according  to  the 
mounting  in  which  they  are  placed.  As  an  illustration 
of  this  fact,  the  writer  remembers  a  sample  ring  made 
by  a  manufacturer  of  mountings  some  years  ago.  It 
was  a  peculiar  style  and  was  universally  decried  by  the 


144  THE  DIAMOND 

trade.  As  he  could  not  sell  it  and  it  was  odd  —  a  merit 
to  him  —  he  put  a  diamond  in  it  and  wore  the  ring  him- 
self. Immediately  the  diamond  was  admired  and  sold, 
the  buyer  stipulating  only  that  he  would  not  buy  the 
setting.  Another  was  put  in  its  place  and  at  once  met 
with  the  same  fate.  He  repeated  this  until  the  ring 
could  not  be  used  further,  and  the  dealers  upon  whom  he 
called  had  all  become  familiar  with  the  ring  and  prob- 
ably with  its  salesmanship.  A  diamond  in  it  looked 
whiter,  larger,  and  more  brilliant  than  it  did  out  of  it, 
though  the  manufacturer  found  in  his  experiments  that 
occasionally  a  stone  would  not  appear  to  good  advantage 
in  it.  Great  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  choice  of 
a  setting  for  a  diamond,  especially  if  it  is  a  very  fine 
stone.  Many  fine  gems  are  made  to  appear  mediocre  by 
the  whims  of  inexperience,  or  the  ignorance  of  an  in- 
artistic jeweler. 

There  have  been  many  attempts  to  improve  or  change 
the  color  of  diamonds.  If  one  remembers  that  color  in 
a  one  carat  stone  may  make  a  difference  of  several 
thousand  dollars  in  the  price  of  it,  one  will  realize  the 
incentive.  At  this  writing  a  blue-white  stone  weighing 
one  and  one  quarter  carats  is  held  by  the  importer  at 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars;  a  perfect  brilliant  by-water 
of  the  same  size  can  be  bought  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars. 

In  old  times  some  charlatan  periodically  claimed  the 
ability  to  remove  the  coloring  matter  from  diamonds. 
Some  men  of  reputation  made  the  same  claim,  among 
them  one  who  styled  himself  the  "  Inventor  of  the 
process  for  the  decoloration  of  diamond  rough."  The 
result  was  said  to  be  accomplished  by  heat  and  chemicals. 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  145 

De  Boot  asserted  that  Rudolf  II  could  take  not  only 
color,  but  flaws  from  diamonds.  If  the  statement  was 
true,  the  secret  died  with  him.  It  has  been  stated  of  late 
that  the  emanations  of  radium  permanently  improve  the 
color  of  diamonds,  changing  the  yellow  to  a  bluish  tint, 
but  time  for  proof  is  yet  wanting,  and  the  cost  and 
scarcity  of  radium  debars  thorough  investigation  at 
present.  That  radium  has  a  great  influence  on  some 
diamonds  has  been  demonstrated.  Under  its  influence 
some  stones  will  become  brilliantly  phosphorescent,  and 
the  color  of  the  light  varies  with  different  stones.  Two 
large  diamonds,  one  blue,  the  other  black,  as  the  radium 
was  brought  near  them,  glowed  brilliantly,  retaining  the 
light  for  some  little  time  after  they  were  removed  from 
the  influence  of  the  radium,  the  black  stone  holding  the 
light  somewhat  longer  than  the  blue.  This  was  re- 
versed when  the  stones  were  subjected  to  the  ultra  violet 
ray,  as  the  black  stone  showed  a  red  light  for  15  seconds 
and  the  blue  stone  shed  light  for  five  seconds  after  the 
black  stone  had  lost  its  brilliancy.  Actual  contact  of 
the  two  substances  is  not  necessary  to  produce  the  result, 
as  a  mixture  of  radium  and  willemite  held  ten  inches 
under  the  board  on  which  the  diamonds  lay,  caused  them 
to  glow  in  the  same  manner.  Willemite,  a  zinc  silicate, 
it  was  found,  in  combination  greatly  increased  the  power 
of  the  radium. 

Some  twenty  years  ago  it  was  discovered  that  dishon- 
est persons  were  "  painting  "  diamonds.  This  was  done 
by  applying  a  purple  dye  or  ink  to  the  under  side  of  the 
stone  on  and  around  the  culet.  When  dry  this  was 
rubbed  down  until  the  paint  became  imperceptible  to  the 

casual  glance,  but  leaving  enough  on  withal  to  neutralize 
10 


i46  THE  DIAMOND 

the  yellow  of  the  stone,  or  if  the  diamond  was  white,  to 
give  a  bluish  tint  to  it  when  faced  up.  Not  only  was 
this  done  with  individual  stones,  but  importers  found 
that  some  of  the  dealers  in  Europe  from  whom  they 
bought  parcels  of  diamonds,  were  open  to  suspicion. 
At  one  time  there  was  considerable  and  general  alarm. 
Importers  and  dealers  everywhere  resorted  to  the  alcohol 
and  acid  bottles  and  there  was  a  great  cleaning  of 
diamonds.  Importers  found  they  had  paid  more  for 
some  stones  in  Europe  than  their  customers  were  sell- 
ing the  like  for  here.  The  bargains  of  bargain  buyers 
disappeared.  Pawnbrokers  discovered  that  they  had 
loaned  more  than  the  market  value  on  some  of  their 
pledges. 

Before  suspicion  was  aroused  there  were  men  who 
habitually  bought  off-color  stones  in  rings  and  after 
painting,  pawned  them  at  a  profit.  For  some  time  a 
reputable  manufacturer  painted  yellow  diamonds  and 
mounted  them  for  his  customers  with  the  paint  on,  in 
closed  English  set  rings.  When  he  found  that  the  device 
was  being  used  to  deceive  patrons  instead  of  improving 
the  appearance  of  stones  sold  for  what  they  really  were, 
he  discontinued  the  practice. 

The  fraud  did  not  last  long,  as  the  trade  soon  became 
too  watchful,  and  those  who  offered  such  stones  ac- 
quired at  once  a  reputation  which  deterred  knaves  and 
caused  honest  men  to  watch  closely  all  stones  which 
passed  through  their  hands.  A  painted  stone  is  rarely 
seen  now. 

If  well  done  it  is  difficult  to  find  evidence  of  the  paint 
with  the  naked  eye,  but  on  turning  the  collet  side  about 
at  different  angles,  a  metallic  iridescence  on  the  facets 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  147' 

will  often  betray  it.  When  in  doubt,  the  safest  plan  is 
to  wash  the  stone  thoroughly  in  alcohol. 

Another  fraud  has  succeeded  the  painted  diamond. 
Many  diamond  doublets  have  been  made  and  sold  lately. 
This  is  not  a  new  thing  but  an  old  imposition  revived. 
They  are  made  of  diamond  from  the  table  to  the  girdle 
and  joined  there  by  invisible  cement  to  a  collet  side  of 
white  topaz,  but  they  are  not  good.  The  topaz  back 
fails  to  give  the  proper  reflections  and  the  stones  look 
dead. 

These  practices  are  very  old,  and  become  epidemic  as 
they  afre  forgotten,  or  a  new  generation  of  unwary  buy- 
ers succeed  those  who  have  had  experience. 

Price  is  not  always  indicative  of  beautiful  color. 
Sometimes  it  corresponds  with  the  rarity  of  the  stone 
only.  A  black  diamond  is  odd,  unique,  rare,  but  not 
beautiful,  yet  it  will  bring  a  larger  price  than  others  of 
exquisite  color.  This  is  true  also  of  some  oily  absinthe 
greens,  cloudy  blues  and  sapphire  blues.  Many  of  the 
pinks  which  command  very  high  figures,  look  weak  and 
washed  out  when  compared  with  a  fine  golden  brown  of 
half  the  cost.  Frequently  the  blue-white  stones  appear 
dark  and  less  attractive  when  placed  side  by  side  with  the 
snow  white  gems  of  India  or  Brazil.  Absolutely  pure 
white  diamonds  are  probably  more  scarce  in  the  market 
to-day  than  blue  white,  yet  the  latter  bring  a  higher  price 
because  the  public  has  been  educated  to  regard  them  as 
the  finest  of  all.  This  education  was  made  when  they 
were  also  more  rare  than  white.  It  is  true  that  a  blue- 
white  stone  will  make  any  but  a  snow-white  appear  off- 
color  by  comparison,  but  the  snow-white  has  a  quality 
which  makes  even  the  bluish  tint  look  off -color.  The 


148  THE  DIAMOND 

term,  "  off-color,"  means  that  the  ideal  purity  of  the 
stone  is  destroyed  by  a  taint  of  color.  As  generally 
applied,  it  means  by  a  tinge  of  yellow  or  brown.  As 
popularly  understood,  it  refers  to  yellow  only. 

To  judge  the  color  of  a  diamond,  endeavor  to  get  an 
unobstructed  light,  a  north  light  if  possible.  Do  not 
hold  it  in  the  fingers,  but  by  diamond  tweezers,  or  in  the 
crease  of  a  diamond  paper,  as  to  put  the  breath  on  it 
properly,  it  must  be  cold.  Then  breathe  quickly  with  a 
slight  puff  upon  the  face  of  it.  This  casts  a  mist  on 
the  stone  for  a  second  or  two,  and  enables  one  to  see 
the  front  color  without  the  confusion  which  arises  from 
its  reflective  and  dispersive  powers.  Having  noted  this, 
turn  the  stone  in  the  paper  edge-wise  to  the  eye,  and 
partially  close  the  paper  over  it  to  ward  off  outside  in- 
fluences. The  body  color  of  the  stone  can  then  be  seen. 
If  it  is  a  blue-white  stone,  try  it  in  various  positions  and 
lights  and  under  a  loup,  watching  closely  all  parts  of 
the  stone  for  a  tinge  of  color  other  than  blue.  If  there, 
it  will  be  seen  at  some  angle  and  will  be  prominent  in 
some  light.  If  found,  the  color  is  false. 

Under  artificial  light,  diamonds  with  a  tinge  of  brown 
appear  dark;  yellow  is  much  less  perceptible  than  by 
daylight ;  gem  canaries  even  cannot  then  be  distinguished 
from  ordinary  stones.  Some  fancy  mixed  color  stones 
become  strangely  transformed.  There  are  specimens, 
green  to  gold  in  daylight,  which  change  to  brown  and 
red  by  artificial  lights.  Under  an  arc  light,  some  blue 
stones  lose  color,  and  others  not  so  blue  assume  a  deep 
violet  hue,  very  beautiful. 

Other  things  being  equal  the  relative  market  values 
of  color  in  the  diamond  are  about  as  follows : 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  149 

Fancies:  Emerald-green,  red,  sapphire-blue,  pink, 
orange,  tints  of  violet-blue  and  blue,  canary,  black,  and 
brown. 

In  what  are  termed  white  stones:  Blue,  snow-white 
rivers,  jagers,  wesseltons,  crystals,  silver-capes,  very  light 
brown,  very  light  green,  capes,  yellow  (by-waters)  ac- 
cording to  depth  of  tint,  and  browns. 

The  flaws  which  occur  in  the  diamond  consist  mainly 
of  so-called  carbon  spots,  and  fissures  or  "  glasses " 
(glessen)  as  they  are  sometimes  termed  in  the  trade. 
There  are  comparatively  few  stones  which  are  absolutely 
flawless,  though  many  of  the  faults  are  almost  imper- 
ceptible to  the  naked  eye  and  are  of  such  a  character 
that  they  do  not  hurt  the  brilliancy  or  beauty  of  the 
stone.  Formerly,  absolute  perfection  was  not  demanded 
to  the  same  extent  as  now.  Then,  diamonds  were  used 
almost  entirely  by  a  class  of  wealth  and  leisure  in  whom 
the  keen  trading  instinct  was  not  developed.  Accus- 
tomed to  jewels,  if  one  pleased  the  eye,  they  did  not 
enter  into  a  close  inquisition  of  details.  This  class  ap- 
preciated observable  qualities.  If  the  ruby  was  a  fine 
red,  the  sapphire  a  beautiful  blue,  and  the  deep  rich 
green  of  the  grass  distinguished  the  emerald,  offered  to 
them,  they  did  not  stop  to  consider  the  effect  of  flaws 
upon  a  possible  sale  later.  So  also  with  the  diamond. 
If  it  was  brilliant  and  the  color  was  good,  that  sufficed. 
But  as  people  unaccustomed  to  diamonds  became  large 
purchasers,  the  trading  instinct  of  generations  mani- 
fested itself.  These  in  buying,  never  lost  sight  of  market 
value  and  anything  which  might  affect  it.  They  could 
not  reach  in  a  lifetime  or  a  generation  or  two,  the  care- 
less prodigality  which  bought  with  no  regard  whatever 


150  THE  DIAMOND 

to  turning  the  jewel  into  cash  again.  The  diamond  was 
to  them  more  an  article  of  merchandise  than  a  jewel. 
Every  detail  which  might  hinder  a  ready  sale,  was  noted, 
either  to  be  avoided,  or  used  as  an  argument  to  whittle 
down  the  cost.  Not  educated  by  familiarity  to  the  more 
subtle  shades  of  life  and  color,  their  criticisms  fell  upon 
the  one  thing  they  could  detect,  the  flaw.  As  with  a 
man  of  noble  parts  his  one  fault  will  be  decried  by  those 
who  fail  to  appreciate  the  otherwise  divine  beauty  of  his 
character,  so  the  new  buyers  of  diamonds  refused  many 
a  noble  stone  because  of  flaws  which  could  not  hide  nor 
mar  the  magnificence  of  worth  and  beauty.  And  this 
general  condition  was  fostered  by  the  many  new  dealers. 
When  a  jeweler  first  adds  diamonds  to  his  stock,  his  one 
demand  is,  perfection;  his  one  claim  when  he  offers  them 
for  sale,  perfection.  He  learns  the  value  of  other  quali- 
ties later. 

This  critical  demand  for  perfection  grew  rapidly  when 
the  people  of  the  United  States  xbegan  to  buy  diamonds. 
Jewels  to  many  of  them  and  their  forebears  had  existed 
only  in  their  dreams  of  romance  and  royalty  on  the  other 
side  of  an  impassable  barrier.  When  these  persons 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  fortune  had  enabled  them  at  will 
to  possess  these  old-time  splendors  of  their  dreams,  they 
brought  to  the  buying  a  hypercritical  taste  which  knew 
little  beyond  flaws.  Nor  could  they  as  a  class  be  de- 
ceived in  a  matter  to  which  they  had  given  attention, 
for  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  both  sharp  and 
inquisitive.  They  soon  learned  to  back  their  demand 
for  perfection  with  the  ability  to  discover  for  them- 
selves any  imperfection,  and  to-day  it  is  common  for  a 
would-be  purchaser,  to  subject  the  diamond  he  has  under 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  151 

consideration  to  careful  inspection  through  a  jeweler's 
loup  or  magnifying  eyeglass. 

This  general  insistence  on  perfection  finally  affected 
the  better  educated  class  of  buyers,  so  that  they  also  de- 
manded freedom  from  flaws  in  addition  to  the  positive 
qualities  of  color  and  life.  The  tremendous  demand  for 
diamonds  in  the  United  States  developed  in  the  last 
decade,  coupled  with  the  control  of  the  world's  supply 
held  by  the  Anglo-African  Diamond  Syndicate,  has 
finally  enabled  that  powerful  corporation  to  check  this 
unreasonable  demand  for  absolute  perfection.  The 
Syndicate  has  of  late  forced  upon  the  American  public, 
imperfect  stones,  not  only  by  marking  the  price  of  per- 
fect stones  much  higher  relatively,  but  also  by  reducing 
the  proportionate  quantity  of  them  in  the  diamonds  they 
market.  Since  the  price  of  diamonds  has  been  raised 
to  the  present  high  figure,  there  has  been  a  noticeable 
willingness  in  the  trade  to  overlook  minor  flaws. 
Dealers  have  been  driven  to  the  endeavor  to  show  goods 
at  a  price  which  would  appear  reasonable  compared  with 
stones  bought  ten  years  ago.  This  effort  to  hide  the 
wide  difference  of  price  for  the  same  goods,  that  exists 
between  now  and  then,  has  forced  many  dealers  to  accept 
imperfections  which  they  would  have  refused  formerly, 
in  order  to  get  stones  at  somewhere  near  old  prices. 
Original  parcels  of  perfect  stones  are  rare  now,  nor  will 
the  importer  allow  the  perfect  ones  to  be  taken  from 
mixed  lots,  except  at  a  very  considerable  advance. 
When  the  imperfections  are  slight,  the  parcel  is  quoted 
as  "  clean."  If  the  buyer  is  persistent,  he  will  learn 
that  the  lot  contains  a  certain  percentage  of  perfect 
stones  and  the  balance  is  slightly  pique  (which  means 


152  THE  DIAMOND 

they  they  have  small  specks  or  glasses  in  them),  or 
perhaps  that  the  entire  parcel  is  slightly  pique.  Other 
lots  are  said  to  "  run  clean,"  when  a  fair  proportion  are 
perfect  or  nearly  so  and  some  are  quite  imperfect.  If 
a  lot  is  admittedly  imperfect,  the  imperfections  will  surely 
be  quite  noticeable.  "  Rejections "  are  the  stones  so 
badly  imperfect  as  to  endanger  the  sale  of  the  lots  from 
which  they  are  culled.  These  are  sold  at  a  low  figure 
to  dealers  in  "  bargains." 

There  are  two  kinds  of  imperfections  or  flaws:  those 
which  are  inherent,  and  others  arising  from  imperfect 
cutting. 

Of  the  former,  black,  or  carbon  spots  are  the  most 
discernible.  They  range  from  specks  so  small  that  it 
is  difficult  sometimes  to  discover  them  with  a  magnifying 
glass,  to  spots  and  broken,  ragged  clusters,  quite  plain 
to  the  naked  eye.  They  are  formed  often  of  uncrystal- 
lized  carbon  or  portions  of  the  original  element  which 
did  not  crystallize  with  the  rest  but  took  one  of  the 
other  forms  of  carbon,  i.  e.  graphite  or  carbonado,  prob- 
ably the  latter,  and  were  included  in  that  which  did 
crystallize.  Others  are  inclusions  of  foreign  matter, 
titanic  iron,  etc.  They  are  considered  bad  imperfections 
because  they  are  so  easily  detected  by  the  naked  eye. 
It  is  worthy  of  observation,  however,  that  the  blackest 
and  most  abrupt  carbon  spots  are  usually  found  in  the 
whitest  and  finest  stones.  They  remind  one  of  human 
nature,  in  which  the  flaws  of  great  talent  are  more  than 
ordinarily  bad.  Not  only  do  black  spots  look  blacker 
when  set  in  material  of  peerless  color  and  splendor,  but 
they  are  blacker.  Where  carbon  appears  in  the  lower 
grade  diamonds  of  Africa,  it  is  often  not  only  somewhat 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  153 

scattered,  but  cloudy  and  less  distinct  In  the  pure  white 
brilliant  stones  of  India,  it  is  decidedly  black,  and  ab- 
ruptly distinct  in  formation.  Why  the  carbon  inclu- 
sions failed  to  crystallize  with  the  surrounding  diamond, 
has  not  been  satisfactorily  explained.  As  they  must  have 
been  subjected  to  the  same  heat  and  pressure  as  the 
remainder  of  the  crystal,  some  other  agency  whose  power 
was  not  equally  distributed  during  the  process  of  crystal- 
lization probably  failed;  again  it  may  be  necessary  for 
the  crystallization  of  carbon  that  it  should  be  in  a  cer- 
tain specific  condition  when  the  heat  and  pressure  as- 
sumed to  be  requisite  are  applied.  Rapid  chemical  action 
whereby  carbon  in  solution  is  thrown  down  in  trans- 
parent crystals,  might  surround  particles  which  had 
escaped  the  solvent;  on  the  other  hand,  the  same  result 
might  be  attained  by  the  slow  accretion  of  crystallized 
carbon  atoms  from  a  surrounding  composite,  to  a  nucleus 
of  the  element. 

Sometimes  these  inclusions  look  like  rough  jagged 
pieces  of  carbonado,  frequently  surrounded  by  smaller 
detached  pieces,  but  more  often  they  resemble  ink  spots. 
Occasionally  they  appear  like  a  thin  cloud,  as  if  a  black 
powder  were  sprinkled  over  the  face  of  a  small  fissure 
in  the  grain  of  the  crystal.  Some  of  them  are  fuzzy 
looking  clusters,  like  little  bunches  of  black  dust.  In 
other  cases  they  appear  as  sharp  hair  lines,  usually  very 
short,  occasionally  broken  at  right  angles,  T  shape,  or 
like  a  check  mark. 

Small  diamonds  have  been  found  in  larger  crystals. 
This  fact,  and  the  statement  that  the  bursting  of  crys- 
tals is  due  to  inclusions  of  compressed  gas,  led  Mr. 
Williams  to  question  the  igneous  theory  of  the  genesis 


154  THE  DIAMOND 

of  the  diamond  and  to  favor  the  idea  of  the  slow  growth 
of  large  crystals  by  accretion,  instead  of  a  sudden  solidi- 
fication in  a  fused  mass.  One  large  diamond  of  228 
carats,  found  several  years  ago,  was  formed  around  a 
small  red  diamond  crystal.  In  another  case  the  smaller 
enclosed  crystal  was  coated  with  apophylite. 

White  specks  and  bubbles  are  common  flaws.  These 
vary  in  size  and  appearance,  some  of  them  glistening  in 
the  interior  with  a  vitreous  luster,  others  ranging  from 
an  icy  to  snowy  whiteness.  Some  of  these,  apparently, 
are  hollow  or  gas-filled  bubbles,  while  others  are  solid 
but  imperfectly  crystallized  sections.  Glessen  or  glasses, 
are  flat  sectional  streaks  of  a  similar  nature,  having  an 
icy  appearance.  When  large  or  abundant  in  a  crystal, 
they  constitute  a  very  bad  imperfection,  as  they  destroy 
all  but  the  surface  brilliance  of  the  stone.  Diamonds 
of  this  character  are  sometimes  termed  "  shivery  "  and 
in  this  country  are  difficult  to  sell  at  any  price. 

"  Clouds "  are  dark  flat  patches  in  the  grain  of  the 
stone  similar  to  the  glasses,  but  brownish  or  blackish. 
Unlike  glasses  they  are  seldom  large  or  numerous  in  a 
single  stone,  nor  do  they  so  completely  destroy  the  in- 
ternal brilliancy.  They  consist  apparently  of  inclusions 
of  foreign  matter,  or  a  fine  dusting  in  the  grain,  of  un- 
crystallized  carbon.  Some  scientists  claim  that  all  black 
and  brown  spots  and  clouds  are  inclusions  of  foreign 
matter,  probably  titanic  iron. 

When  clouds  or  glasses  reach  the  surface  of  a  cut 
diamond  they  appear  as  cracks,  and  if  near  the  girdle  are 
dangerous,  the  stone  being  liable  to  split  there  under 
heat  or  a  smart  blow.  Usually  the  break  will  not  extend 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  155 

throughout  the  stone  but  result  in  the  loss  of  a  sliver  or 
a  wedge-shaped  piece  out  of  the  edge. 

Many  other  inclusions  have  been  noted  by  scientists, 
hematite  being  frequent.  As  the  exact  nature  of  these 
inclusions  is  of  more  interest  from  a  scientific  stand- 
point, they  will  not  be  discussed  in  this  chapter,  which 
considers  them  only  as  they  affect  the  appearance  of  the 
cut  stone  to  the  eye,  and  the  consequent  effect  on  their 
desirability  and  value. 

Surface  flaws  consist  of  nicks  in  the  edge  of  the  stone, 
or  cavities  in  the  face  of  one  or  more  of  the  facets.  It 
sometimes  happens  that  irregularities  in  the  surface  of  the 
crystal  can  be  eliminated  only  by  a  considerable  reduc- 
tion of  size  in  the  finished  stone.  If  a  depression  exists 
where  the  edge  or  girdle  will  be,  the  cutter  endeavors  to 
cut  it  so  that  it  will  appear  in  the  gem  as  an  irregularity, 
which,  though  an  imperfection  of  shape,  would  not  con- 
stitute a  flaw,  but  if  the  cavity  extends  too  far  into  the 
stone,  the  diamond  leaves  the  polisher's  hands  with  a  more 
or  less  observable  nick  in  the  edge.  As  the  faces  of 
many  of  these  nicks  are  rough  unpolished  crystal,  they 
not  only  spoil  the  perfection  of  outline,  but  detract 
materially  from  the  beauty  of  the  stone,  and  are  in  some 
cases  reflected  into  the  interior  to  its  further  detriment. 
In  setting  such  stones,  the  jeweler  is  careful  to  hide  these 
flaws  as  far  as  possible,  by  covering  them  with  the  gold 
prongs  with  which  the  stone  is  held.  The  prongs  of  a 
jewel  often  hide  the  reason  why  one  stone  costs  less  than 
another  apparently  no  better. 

Occasionally,  uneven  places  in  the  crystal  are  where 
the  face  or  back  of  the  finished  stone  will  be,  and  some 


156  THE  DIAMOND 

of  the  cavities  are  so  deep,  that  to  cut  all  the  material 
away  necessary  to  reach  the  bottom  of  them,  would  en- 
tail a  sacrifice  of  value  by  loss  of  weight  greater  than 
by  the  reduction  of  price  per  carat  on  account  of  the 
imperfections.  They  are  therefore  left,  and  become 
bad  and  deceptive  flaws.  While  the  stone  is  perfectly 
clean,  they  are  not  easily  seen,  but  as  soon  as  the  jewel 
is  worn,  dust  and  grease  get  into  the  cavities  and  they 
appear  as  large  ragged  black  flaws  to  mar  the  brilliancy 
of  the  stone.  A  stone  of  this  character  must  be  con- 
stantly washed,  as  rubbing  over  the  surface,  while  it 
cleans  the  stone  otherwise,  at  the  same  time  deposits 
whatever  dirt  may  be  there,  in  the  cavities,  the  edges 
of  which  act  as  scrapers  every  time  the  cloth  or  finger 
passes  over  them. 

As  a  matter  of  sentiment,  absolute  perfection  is  desir- 
able. To  illustrate :  a  young  man  of  means  some  years 
ago,  wished  to  buy  a  pair  of  diamonds  for  the  lady  soon 
to  be  his  wife.  The  retail  jeweler  to  whom  he  applied, 
having  nothing  sufficiently  fine  in  his  stock,  introduced 
him  to  a  New  York  importer  who  chanced  to  be  calling 
upon  him.  A  certain  engaging  ingenuousness  of  man- 
ner enlisted  the  sympathies  of  the  importer  in  the  quest 
of  his  young  customer  which  in  turn  begat  confidence. 
In  the  New  Yorker's  stock  was  a  pair  of  blue  Jagers 
diamonds  of  exquisite  color  and  brilliancy,  and  perfectly 
cut.  Taking  them  from  his  wallet,  he  showed  them  with 
the  pleased  anticipation  of  being  able  to  satisfy  fully  a 
customer  in  whom  he  already  felt  a  personal  interest. 
The  young  man's  eyes  sparkled  at  the  sight  of  them, 
"  Ah !  That  is  what  I  want,"  he  exclaimed.  Looking 
them  over  with  smiling  delight,  he  said  further,  "  They 


COLOR  AND  FLAWS  157 

are  just  what  I  have  been  looking  for."  Still  toying  with 
them,  he  asked  casually,  "  Are  they  perfect?  " 

"  One  is,  and  the  other  is  practically  so,"  said  the 
dealer.  "  There  is  in  the  edge  of  one,  a  small  speck,  so 
small  indeed  and  so  placed  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  find  it  with  the  loup,"  he  explained. 

The  young  man's  smile  faded.  "  Too  bad,"  he  sighed, 
"  I  want  a  perfect  pair."  Observing  the  dealer's  surprise, 
he  said  with  a  smile  of  excuse  for  his  own  unreasonably 
critical  fancy,  "  You  see,  I  want  them  for  the  dearest 
girl  on  earth  and  I  would  never  feel  quite  satisfied  if 
I  gave  her  anything  which  was  not  like  herself,  quite 
perfect.  I  do  not  mind  the  cost  but  they  must  be  per- 
pect." 

A  similar  sentiment  only,  justifies  one  in  demanding 
absolute  perfection  where  all  other  good  qualities  are 
so  preeminent.  Ordinarily,  flaws  which  do  not  detract 
from  the  brilliancy  of  the  stone  and  are  not  apparent  to 
the  eye,  while  they  may  be  properly  estimated  in  the 
valuation,  should  not  be  made  to  over-balance  other  and 
intrinsically  valuable  qualities.  There  are  diamonds  of 
such  beauty  that  a  few  minor  flaws  are  not  an  absolute 
bar  to  the  favor  of  those  who  recognize  their  otherwise 
superior  character.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  an  in- 
expert buyer  is  apt  to  give  undue  weight  to  faults  which 
one  who  knows  nothing  of  gems  can  discover.  Flaws 
do  not  grow,  but  the  inferior  qualities  of  a  poor  stone 
do  grow  upon  one  by  familiarity  and  comparison.  Many 
people  learn  after  they  have  purchased  a  stone  because  it 
had  no  flaws,  that  it  ranks  far  below  others  which  have, 
and  become  dissatisfied  accordingly. 

There  are  flawless  stones  which  nevertheless  appear 


158  THE  DIAMOND 

to  be  flawed.  This  condition  arises  from  faults  of 
proportion  whereby  the  rough  edge  or  skin  of  the  stone 
around  the  girdle  is  reflected  into  the  interior  of  the 
diamond.  It  is  usually  found  in  stones  which  are  cut 
too  shallow  on  the  culet  side.  If  a  diamond  is  not  suf- 
ficiently deep  from  the  girdle  to  the  culet,  a  reflection 
of  all  rough  places  on  the  girdle  will  appear  in  the  body 
of  the  stone.  These  reflections  are  not  distinctly  visible 
to  the  naked  eye  though  they  destroy  to  some  extent  the 
brilliancy  of  the  jewel.  Under  the  loup  they  become  so 
prominent  that  one  unaccustomed  to  them  would  think 
they  existed  in  the  stone.  They  are  indisputable  evi- 
dence that  the  stone  is  not  cut  so  as  to  give  the  proper 
brilliancy,  and  diamonds  of  this  character  should  be  used 
only  where  a  large  surface  effect  at  a  minimum  cost  is 
__  wanted. 

To  find  flaws,  use  a  jeweler's  double  loup  with  an  inch 
focus;  if  that  is  not  at  hand,  blow  the  breath  quickly 
on  the  stone  while  it  is  cold,  and  search  for  them  while 
the  resulting  mist  lasts. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  DIAMOND   MINES  OF  INDIA 

TT  is  not  known  when  diamonds  were  first  mined  in 
•*•  India.  As  far  as  we  know,  all  the  diamonds  of 
ancient  times  came  from  that  country.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  some  came  from  Africa.  All  discoveries 
of  diamonds  throughout  the  world  in  alluvial  deposits, 
of  which  we  have  cognizance,  were  made  by  men  while 
washing  the  sands  and  gravels  for  gold.  There  have  been 
found  in  Rhodesia  of  late,  in  a  section  in  which  the 
alluvial  deposits  contain  gold  and  diamonds,  evidences 
of  mining  operations,  ancient  beyond  record.  Some  of 
the  six  kinds  of  diamonds  of  which  Pliny  wrote  two 
thousand  years  ago  may  therefore  have  been  African 
stones.  Of  these  six  kinds,  he  said  that  the  Arabian 
and  Indian  were  superior,  being  of  "  unspeakable  hard- 
ness." There  is  no  evidence  that  Arabia  ever  produced 
any  diamonds.  Topaz  occurred  there,  and  white  topaz 
was  probably  thought  by  the  ancients  to  be  a  kind  of 
diamond,  but  it  could  not  have  been  the  stone  he  coupled 
with  the  Indian  diamond  as  equally  hard,  therefore  the 
Arabian  diamond  must  have  been  obtained  by  trade  from 
some  other  source,  either  from  India  further  east,  or 
possibly  from  Africa  to  the  southwest.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  the  Phoenicians  in  their  day  tricked  the  world 
as  the  Portuguese  did  later  with  the  diamonds  from 
Brazil.  The  diamonds  of  India  and  the  East  were  known 

159 


160  THE  DIAMOND 

to  be  harder  and  better  than  all  other  so-called  diamonds, 
and  those  wily  traders,  having  obtained  diamonds  from 
Africa,  may  have  sold  them  as  Arabian  stones  in  order 
to  conceal  the  source  of  supply,  and  to  secure  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  reputation  which  diamonds  from  the  East 
had  already  attained.  The  operations  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians were  widespread.  They  went  after  the  tin  of 
Cornwall,  the  silver  of  the  Guadalquiver,  and  away  to 
the  north  for  amber.  If  rumor  brought  news  of  any- 
thing anywhere  that  could  be  traded  in  profitably,  they 
went  after  it.  They  circumnavigated  Africa  600  years 
B.  C.  They  probably  knew  that  there  was  gold  and 
other  minerals  in  that  country;  they  knew  what  dia- 
monds were,  for  they  traded  in  Indian  stones.  It  is 
possible,  and  even  quite  probable,  that  they  brought  gold 
from  Africa,  and  equally  probable  that  diamonds  were 
found  with  the  gold.  If  so,  they  would  not  escape  the 
observation  of  such  keen  traders,  and  the  Indian  and 
Arabian  stones  having  the  reputation  of  being  much 
superior  to  all  other  stones  called  diamond,  the  African 
diamonds  would  undoubtedly  be  marketed  with  those 
from  the  East  and  under  the  same  classification. 

Whether  the  Phoenicians  obtained  stones  from  Africa 
or  not,  they  not  only  bought  and  sold  Indian  stones,  but 
those  stones  had  evidently  been  known  and  used  for 
some  time  and  therefore  had  been  regularly  mined  then 
in  India. 

The  diamonds  of  India  occur  in  alluvial  deposits  which 
carry  gold  also.  From  before  records,  gold  was  always 
sought,  and  it  is  probable  that  in  the  remote  past,  men 
there,  as  elsewhere  later,  while  mining  fox  gold,  at- 
tracted by  the  crystals  glistening  in  the  sands,  saved 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     161 

them  at  first  as  curios.  Learning  in  course  of  time  how 
very  hard  they  were,  they  were  put  in  use  as  cutters 
and  gravers,  and  attention  was  drawn  to  them  by  their 
preeminence  over  all  other  known  substances  in  the 
quality  of  hardness.  Writers  enlarged  upon  the  theme 
and  invented  such  fabulous  stories  about  them,  that 
eventually  the  diamonds  of  India  became  a  world's 
wonder.  The  larger  and  more  perfect  crystals  would 
naturally  attract  the  attention  of  rulers  and  be  used  as 
jewels.  Once  established  in  favor  with  a  potentate,  they 
would  be  desired  by  others. 

The  high  estimation  to  which  the  stone  attained  was 
undoubtedly  of  very  slow  growth,  but  as  its  use  for 
mechanical  purposes  or  as  an  ornament  grew,  the  search 
for  them  would  naturally  grow  with  it  until,  as  in  later 
instances,  instead  of  being  regarded  as  a  by-product  of 
the  gold  mines,  diamonds  would  become  the  chief  in- 
centive for  mining,  and  gold  the  by-product. 

Tradition  tells  that  the  diamond  was  worn  as  a  jewel 
in  India,  5000  years  ago.  The  Bible  establishes  its  ex- 
istence as  a  graver  nearly  three  thousand  years  back. 
The  poets  and  historians  of  Greece  and  Rome  over  two 
thousand  years  ago,  inform  us  that  India  was  the  source 
of  it.  The  diamond-mining  industry  in  India  is  there- 
fore certainly  three  thousand  years  old,  and  one  may 
reasonably  think  that  it  is  twice  that  age. 

Notwithstanding  Pliny's  statement  that  diamonds  were 
so  precious  that  kings  only,  and  but  few  of  them,  could 
afford  to  own  them,  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  were 
considered  a  jewel  of  the  first  rank  in  India  until  com- 
paratively late  times.  If  they  had  been  so  regarded, 

more  would  have  been  brought  back  by  the  Greeks  and 
11 


1 62  THE  DIAMOND 

Romans  when  they  looted  India.  Little  mention  is  made 
of  them  in  the  literature  of  that  day.  The  writers  of 
the  New  Testament,  some  of  whom  used  other  precious 
stones  freely  to  typify  beauty,  magnificence,  and  worth, 
ignore  the  diamond.  Pliny  probably  got  his  idea  of 
value  from  the  fact  that  only  a  small  number  of  the 
kings  of  the  Orient  possessed  any.  They  were  found 
in  a  few  districts  in  India  only,  and  as  the  rulers  of  those 
districts  claimed  all  the  best  stones  found,  and  Oriental 
princes  seldom  parted  with  their  jewels  of  any  kind,  they 
could  not  be  dispersed  to  any  great  extent,  nor  have  any 
definite  value.  The  diamond  was  a  local  jewel.  Its 
wider  field  was  as  a  cutter  and  graver. 

The  reports  of  early  European  travelers  do  not  indi- 
cate that  diamonds  were  preeminent  among  the  jewels 
of  India.  It  is  said  of  Sighelmus  of  Sherbofne,  that 
having  been  sent  by  King  Alfred  in  883  to  Rome  with 
presents  for  the  Pope,  he  went  on  from  there  to  visit  the 
tomb  of  St.  Thomas  at  Mylapore  (Mailapur  or  St. 
Thome,  a  suburb  of  Madras)  and  brought  back  with 
him  jewels  and  spices.  No  specific  mention  is  made  of 
diamonds.  From  the  reports  of  later  European  travelers 
into  India,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  Indian  mines  of 
old,  as  within  the  last  four  or  five  centuries,  yielded  few 
large  stones.  In  those  days  they  could  not  shape  a  dia- 
mond to  the  requirements  of  the  jeweler's  art.  It  was 
mounted  as  a  natural  crystal,  and  when  mounted,  though 
a  wonderful  stone,  it  was  a  clumsy  jewel. 

But  rumor  spread  a  knowledge  of  the  stone;  imagina- 
tion endowed  it  with  marvels,  and  desire  for  it  spread  and 
grew  stronger.  A  world-wide  interest  was  created,  and 
diamond  mining  in  India  became  an  important  industry. 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     163 

It  is  said  that  Akbar  of  the  Mogul  dynasty  derived  a 
revenue  of  £80,000  per  annum  from  the  diamond  mines 
in  his  kingdom.  They  were  the  Panna  mines,  situated 
in  Panna  or  Punna,  Bundelkhand,  Central  India.  This 
prince  reigned  from  1560  to  1605. 

The  celebrated  Golconda  mines  received  the  name  from 
an  ancient  town  and  fort  of  that  name,  now  in  ruins, 
near  the  city  of  Hyderabad,  where  the  stones  were  col- 
lected and  polished.  The  diamonds  were  really  ob- 
tained throughout  an  extensive  region  watered  by  the 
Kistna  or  Krishna,  and  Godavari  rivers,  and  included 
the  modern  districts  of  Krishna,  Godavari,  Bellary, 
Cuddapah  and  Kurnul.  Until  1687,  when  Aurungzebe 
annexed  it  to  the  Delhi  empire,  Golconda  was  a  large 
and  powerful  kingdom  of  the  Deccan,  a  name  given  to 
the  central  part  of  India  lying  south  of  the  Nerbudda  or 
Nabada  river,  which  separated  it  from  Hindustan  proper. 
The  Deccan  extended  south  as  far  as  the  Krishna  river, 
and  in  this  territory  many  of  the  Indian  diamond  mines 
were  situated. 

The  most  southerly  group  of  mines  are  on  the 
banks  of  the  Pannar  river  in  the  Madras  Presidency 
where  it  cuts  through  the  Eastern  Ghats  north  of 
Madras.  These  must  not  be  Unfounded  with  the  Panna 
or  Punna  mines  of  the  Bundelkhand  further  north. 
The  diamonds  occur  in  the  Banaganpilly,  a  stratum,  two 
or  three  feet  thick,  of  water-worn  pebbles  and  clay,  lying 
under  several  feet  of  sand  and  rubble,  and  a  tough  clay 
similar  to  that  which  binds  the  pebbles  of  the  dia- 
mondiferous  stratum.  This  is  now  known  as  the  Cud- 
dapah district.  It  formerly  yielded  some  very  fine 
stones,  but  has  apparently  been  long  since  exhausted. 


1 64  THE  DIAMOND 

Some  work  was  done  in  these  mines  in  1869,  but  the 
results  did  not  warrant  a  continuance  of  operations. 
West  of  Cuddapah,  the  diamondiferous  layers  lie  some- 
what deeper,  in  places  fifteen  or  sixteen  feet,  and  the 
diamonds  and  accompanying  minerals  are  very  much 
waterworn,  being  sometimes  nearly  round.  As  is 
usually  the  case  with  diamonds  of  this  character,  they 
were  particularly  hard  and  brilliant.  The  color  ranged 
from  deep  yellow  to  white.  The  minerals  accompanying 
the  diamonds  are,  various  kinds  of  quartz,  corundum, 
etc.,  and  the  stones  are  fragments  of  the  same  kind  of 
rock  of  which  the  mountains  rising  from  the  river  valley 
are  composed. 

A  little  north  and  west  of  the  Cuddapah  district  mines, 
are  those  of  the  Bellary  district,  also  situated  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Madras  Presidency.  Most  of  them  lie 
south  of  the  Kistna  and  about  one  of  its  tributaries. 
Among  them  are  the  famous  mines  of  Wajrah  Karur. 
A  number  of  the  exceptional  stones  of  the  past  are 
said  to  have  come  from  these  mines,  and  of  late  years 
the  "  Gordon  Orr,"  weighing  62  carats,  was  found  in 
1883,  and  another  of  68  carats  later.  The  Gordon  Orr 
changed  hands  at  5,000  and  15,000  rupees  and  was  cut 
to  a  brilliant  of  24^  carats.  These  stones  were  taken 
from  a  section  of  the  Bellary  district  newly  apportioned 
and  called  the  Anantapur  district. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  Bellary  was  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Bisnager  or  Vijayanagar,  having  Hampi  as 
its  capital.  The  mines  were  a  source  of  great  revenue 
to  the  ruler.  The  kingdom  was  overthrown  by  the 
Mohammedan  powers  in  1565  after  the  battle  of 
Telikota. 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     165 

The  diamonds  of  this  district  are  found  chiefly  in  a 
surface  deposit,  and  it  was  evidently  the  custom  to 
search  for  them  after  heavy  rains,  which  would  wash 
them  out  of  the  ground.  In  the  modern  operations,  pits 
separated  by  narrow  walls,  some  of  them  cut  to  steps 
leading  to  the  bottom,  are  dug  down  into  the  diamondifer- 
ous  deposit,  the  earth  being  carried  up  on  the  heads  of 
natives,  in  bowls  similar  to  the  carimbe  of  Brazil,  for 
washing.  A  substratum  of  rock  similar  to  the  Kimber- 
lite  of  Africa  was  reached  under  the  deposit  of  diamond- 
bearing  earth,  but  nothing  has  been  developed  to  war- 
rant an  expectation  that  the  African  chimneys  will  be 
duplicated.  A  scientist  thought  he  had  discovered  the 
matrix  of  the  Indian  diamonds  in  numerous  veins  of 
eruptive  material  which  channel  the  underlying  gneiss 
of  this  district,  but  the  claim  was  not  substantiated. 
About  thirty  to  fifty  miles  east  of  Wajrah  Karur,  are  a 
number  of  deserted  mines  which  yielded  at  one  time 
many  diamonds  and  were  worked  with  good  success 
through  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  At 
Banaganpilly,  in  this  neighborhood,  are  mines;  also  at 
Nandial  a  little  to  the  northeast,  and  at  Karnul  or 
Kurnul  about  due  north.  The  diamond-bearing  stratum 
of  this  section  of  India  is  named  after  Banaganpilly. 

West  of  half  way  between  Banaganpilly  and  Karnul 
are  mines  supposed  to  be  identical  with  the  mines  of 
Raolconda,  which  in  Tavernier's  time  were  celebrated 
for  their  richness.  They  had  been  worked  then  for 
several  centuries,  but  later  passed  out  of  knowledge. 
Of  late  years  the  deposit,  which  lies  deep  but  is  quite 
extensive,  has  been  worked  again  spasmodically.  They 
are  known  now  as  the  Ramulkota  mines. 


1 66  THE  DIAMOND 

It  should  be  remembered  as  a  qualification  of  all  ac- 
counts given  of  the  past  history  of  Indian  mines,  that 
there  is  little  absolutely  reliable  information.  India  is 
commonly  regarded  as  one  country.  To  a  certain  extent 
it  is  so  geographically,  but  for  many  centuries  it  was 
not  only  divided  into  many  principalities,  but  the 
boundaries  of  the  divisions  and  their  rulers  were  con- 
stantly changed.  The  various  States  preyed  upon  each 
other,  and  outside  powers  at  different  times  swooped 
down  upon  them,  looting  their  treasuries,  and  establish- 
ing foreign  dynasties.  Lines  of  demarcation  were  ob- 
literated, and  with  them  diamond  mines  were  in  the 
centuries  sometimes  lost  and  forgotten.  Spread  over 
many  miles  of  territory  in  small  patches,  as  the  dia- 
mondiferous  deposits  are;  oftentimes  concealed  by  over- 
lying strata  of  nondiamond-bearing  material,  if  cir- 
cumstances forced  a  cessation  of  work,  a  few 
generations  of  interrupted  authority  and  record  would 
be  sufficient  to  obliterate  knowledge  of  a  digging. 
Eminent  and  careful  men  have  sought  without  success 
to  locate  mines  which  travelers  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  mentioned  as  being  renowned  in 
their  day.  Ancient  workings  have  been  located  and 
traditions  hooked  to  them  which  may  properly  belong  to 
others  that  in  some  unknown  quarter  await  rediscovery. 
Much  of  our  knowledge  of  the  diamond  mines  of  India 
is  guess-work  with  the  stamp  of  authority.  All  that  we 
can  say  of  the  celebrated  diamonds  of  India  is  that  they 
are  "  said  to  have  been  found,"  in  this  or  that  mine. 
While  a  dynasty  had  control  of  territory  in  which  there 
were  diamond  mines,  it  seized  all  the  large,  valuable 
stones,  and  imposed  a  tax  so  rigorous  upon  the  others 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     167 

found,  that  diamond  mining  was  an  occupation  for  the 
most  poverty-stricken  people  only.  When  the  yield  of  a 
deposit  became  poor,  the  miners  naturally  melted  away, 
and  unless  by  chance  a  new  rich  strike  was  made,  they 
were  soon  neglected  and  sometimes  forgotten. 

Diamond  mines  were  simply  diggings  here  and  there  in 
a  gravelly  deposit  which  to  the  initiated  had  the  ear- 
marks of  the  diamonds.  Sometimes  it  lay  on  the  sur- 
face, sometimes  in  the  beds  of  streams,  and  at  others, 
under  a  valueless  covering  of  some  other  kind  of  earth 
anywhere  from  two  to  twenty  feet  thick. 

Among  those  included  in  the  ancient  term  "  Golconda  " 
mines,  which  probably  embraced  all  those  to  the  south 
and  east  of  Golconda  from  which  the  rough  was  brought 
to  that  place  as  a  center  of  the  industry,  were  the  famous 
mines  of  Kollur.  From  these  some  of  the  most  cele- 
brated historical  stones  are  supposed  to  have  been  taken, 
among  them  the  Koh-i-noor  and  the  Great  Mogul. 
These  mines  were  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Kistna, 
directly  north  of  Madras  and  a  little  west  of  the  Parteal 
mines.  Tavernier  referred  to  them  as  the  Gani 
Coulour.  V.  Ball  says  Gani  should  be  written  Gan-i 
or  "  the  mines  of  "  Coulour.  Hugh  Murray,  1834,  says : 
"  The  mines  are  in  a  plain  along  the  foot  of  some  high 
mountains  and  yielded  Shah  Jehan  the  famous  stone  of 
upwards  of  700  carats  (Great  Mogul)."  They  are  said 
to  have  been  accidentally  discovered  by  the  finding  of  a 
25  carat  stone,  followed  so.on  after  by  others  of  good  size, 
about  1560.  When  Tavernier  was  in  India  in  1669  he 
says  there  were  about  60,000  people  employed  in  con- 
nection with  the  mines. 

A  governor  of   Madras  visited  them   in   1679, 


1 68  THE  DIAMOND 

describing  his  visit  said  he  went  to  the  mines  upon  a  hill 
to  see  them  dig  and  look  for  "  Dimonds."     The  ground, 
he  says,  "  is  loose,  of  a  red  fat  sand  and  gravel."    It  con- 
tained black,  red,  and  white  stones.     Some  of  the  miners 
picked  it,  while  others  with  iron  spades  threw  it  into  a 
heap,  where  it  was  winnowed  with  baskets  whereby  the 
dust  was  driven  out.    The  remaining  gravel  was  carried 
to  a  trough  in  which  was  water  brought  thither  from 
above   a   mile   away,    on   men's   heads.     There   it   was 
washed,  the  earth  melting  like  sugar  and  running  off 
with  the  water  through  a  hole.     The  gravel  was  then 
spread  on  a  smooth  place,  where  the  men  in  ranks,  their 
faces  to  the  sun,  under  the  eye  of  an  overseer,  picked  it 
for  diamonds.     Most  of  these  mines  are  now  deserted. 
The  Parteal  mines,  some  of  which  were  worked  as 
late  as  1850,  are  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Kistna 
to  the  east  of  the  Kollur  mines,  a  little  east  of  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Munyeru  river  with  the  Kistna.     Some  of 
these  are  said  to  have  been  very  rich,  tradition  with  its 
usual  liberality  crediting  them  with  "  wagon  loads  "  of 
diamonds.     The  stones  are  in  an  alluvium  of  a  decom- 
posed diamondiferous  stratum,  which  is  probably  not  yet 
exhausted,  though  it  is  abandoned. 

There  is  a  sandstone  conglomerate  further  east,  at 
some  distance  from  the  Kistna,  resting  on  gneiss,  which 
was  worked  with  some  success  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Pits  fifteen  feet  or  more  deep  were 
dug  in  the  deposit,  and  it  was  also  worked  in  spots  where 
the  decomposed  material  had  been  washed  to  the  surface. 
About  as  far  directly  north  of  the  Kollur  mines  as 
the  latter  are  north  of  Madras,  is  a  diamondiferous  de- 
posit of  yellow  sandy  earth  of  unknown  origin,  which 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA    169 

some  scientists  believe  is  much  more  extensive  than  it  is 
generally  thought  to  be.  Many  years  ago  it  was  worked 
near  Wairagahr  on  the  banks  of  the  Wainganga  river, 
in  the  Chanda  district  southeast  of  Nagpur.  These  mines 
were  called  Beiragahr  by  Tavernier.  They  are  said  to 
have  been  rich,  but  have  been  abandoned  for  nearly  a 
century. 

Following  a  direct  line  north  from  Wairagahr,  at  a 
distance  about  the  same  as  that  between  Wairagahr  and 
Kollur,  and  from  Kollur  to  Madras,  the  Panna  or  Punna 
mines  of  the  Bundelkhand  are  reached.  These  lie  be- 
tween the  tributaries  of  the  Jumna  and  Sone  rivers, 
which  are  tributaries  of  the  sacred  Ganges  river.  This 
group  of  mines  is  about  250  miles  due  north  of  Madras. 
The  mines  form  two  spurs  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Panna  on  the  Khan  river;  one  extending  due  east  to 
Rewah,  and  the  other  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  the 
Jumna  river  a  few  miles  west  of  Allahabad. 

The  diamonds  occur  in  the  Rewah  strata  of  the  upper 
Vindyan  formation.  The  diamondiferous  stratum  lies 
at  varying  depths  down  to  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet. 
It  is  not  thick,  sometimes  only  a  few  inches,  but  extends 
over  a  considerable  area.  In  some  parts  of  the  district 
it  is  found  on  the  surface  as  a  weathered  or  alluvial  de- 
posit. Near  Panna  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  work,  as 
it  is  overlaid  by  a  thick  stratum  of  clay  containing  frag- 
ments of  sandstone  and  other  pebbles,  with  a  quantity  of 
broken,  spongy,  ferruginous  rock  called  laterite,  at  the 
base.  This  necessitates  the  digging  of  pits  to  reach  the 
diamonds.  These  excavations,  fifty  feet  or  more  in  di- 
ameter and  thirty  or  forty  feet  deep,  make  very  wet  and 
uncomfortable  diggings,  as  the  water  constantly  seeps  in 


1 70  THE  DIAMOND 

and  covers  the  stratum  of  diamond! ferous  material  at 
the  bottom.  The  water  is  carried  up  by  a  chain  pump 
of  bowls  operated  by  hand,  and  the  diamond-bearing 
earth  is  hoisted  in  baskets  by  a  pulley  to  the  surface.  A 
hole  in  the  wall  of  the  pit  near  the  bottom  affords  shelter 
for  the  overseers  set  to  watch  the  miners.  When  prase 
is  found  in  abundance  it  is  regarded  as  a  sure  indication 
that  the  yield  of  diamonds  will  be  more  than  ordinarily 
good. 

A  few  miles  northeast  of  Panna,  the  geological  con- 
ditions are  more  favorable  for  mining.  The  overlying 
stratum  is  a  firm  rock  of  Rewah  sandstone  which  permits 
considerable  tunneling  in  the  underlying  diamond-bearing 
stratum,  from  the  bottom  of  the  pits. 

These  mines  of  the  northern  spur  of  the  Panna  group 
reaching  toward  Allahabad  are  all  at  some  depth,  except 
those  at  the  extreme  eastern  end  of  it,  where  the  diamond- 
bearing  stratum  is  a  sandstone  conglomerate  which  crops 
out  to  the  surface.  To  the  south  are  two  waterfalls 
which  carry  .diamondiferous  material  from  the  stratum 
situated  above,  to  the  valley  of  the  Baghin  river  below, 
where  the  diamonds  are  collected  from  the  sands. 

There  is  a  mine  southwest  of  Panna,  abandoned  some 
years  ago,  though  it  is  believed  to  contain  many  diamonds 
yet,  which  illustrates  the  first  idea  the  African  diamond 
miners  had  of  the  chimneys  there,  before  they  under- 
stood their  volcanic  nature.  It  lies  in  a  great  conical  ba- 
sin in  the  sandstone,  several  hundred  feet  in  diameter  and 
about  100  feet  deep.  The  basin  is  partially  filled  with  a 
green  mud  covered  by  a  deposit  of  calcareous  tufa.  It 
has  been  worked  to  about  half  the  depth,  and  it  is  claimed 
that  the  yield  increases  with  the  depth. 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     171 

The  mines  of  the  southern  spur  consist  of  deposits  car- 
ried down  from  the  diamondiferous  stratum.  It  lies  on 
the  surface  in  some  places  and  under  a  stratum  of  yellow 
clay  in  others. 

The  Panna  fields  are  supposed  to  be  among  the  oldest 
of  the  Indian  diamond  mines.  As  far  as  known,  the  dis- 
trict has  never  yielded  as  fine  stones  as  the  others,  but  it 
has  been  prolific,  and  operations  have  been  carried  on 
with  more  or  less  vigor  constantly  to  the  present  time. 
The  entire  output  of  India  to-day  is  insignificant.  The 
returns  for  1900  of  the  Bundelkhand  district  were  but 
169  carats.  The  production  of  India  for  1905  was  172.4 
carats  and  for  1906,  305.9  carats,  the  increase  being 
chiefly  from  the  Panna  mines.  For  the  States  of  Panna, 
Charkhari  and  Ajaigarh  it  was  628  carats,  valued  at 
£2,784  in  1907,  and  140.75  carats  valued  at  £940  in  1908. 
The  exactions  of  the  native  princes  are  so  great  there 
that  they  leave  little  inducement  for  the  miners,  yet  many 
of  the  natives  continue  to  spend  their  lives  in  the  wretched 
occupation,  probably  from  lack  of  better  opportunities 
and  an  hereditary  habit.  All  stones  over  about  5^/2 
carats,  and  one-quarter  of  the  value  of  all  under,  is  the 
toll  exacted. 

The  diamond  mines  of  Sumbulpur  are  situated  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Mahanadi,  where  tributaries  rising 
in  the  Baraphar  hills  join  it,  and  where  the  flow  of  the 
Mahanadi  is  due  east,  presenting  a  trap  for  washings 
from  the  north.  They  are  about  250  miles  south  and  a 
little  east  of  Benares,  in  the  Bengal  province  of  Chutia 
Nagpur.  Hugh  Murray  in  his  Encyclopedia  1834  says 
of  the  diamonds  of  "  Sumbulpoor,"  that  they  were  found 
mixed  with  sand  of  the  "  Gouel  river  which  falls  into 


172  THE  DIAMOND 

the  Mahanuddy  "  and  were  very  fine  but  small.  Later 
writers  think  the  river  Gouel,  of  which  Tavernier  also 
wrote,  to  be  identical  with  the  North  Koel  river,  a  trib- 
utary of  the  Sone,  which  in  turn  empties  into  the  Ganges 
to  the  north.  Diamonds  are  found  near  Sumbulpur  in 
a  mixture  of  red  mud,  sand  and  gravel,  but  the  best  yield 
is  obtained  from  the  north  branch  of  the  Mahanadi  where 
it  is  divided  by  Hira  Khund,  an  island  four  miles  long. 
This  branch  of  the  river,  in  the  dry  season  about  the  end 
of  March,  is  dammed  up  when  the  water  is  low,  and 
when  it  is  as  nearly  dry  as  may  be,  the  sands  of  the  river 
bed  are  dug  out,  by  men  who  flock  there  in  great  num- 
bers, and  carried  up  onto  the  banks,  where  the  women 
wash  them  for  diamonds.  Some  think  that  the  southern 
branch  must  also  carry  diamonds,  but  the  greater  volume 
of  water  and  a  swifter  current  deter  experiments.  It 
appears  also  to  be  a  settled  conviction  of  the  natives  that 
diamonds  are  only  to  be  found  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river. 

There  are  traditions  of  ancient  diamond  workings  to 
the  north  and  a  little  east  of  Sumbulpur  among  the  trib- 
utaries of  the  Brahmani  river  flowing  south,  and  the 
North  Koel  river  running  north  to  the  Sone,  and  attempts 
have  been  made  to  verify  them,  but  a  new  set  of  supposi- 
tions only  resulted. 

The  diamonds  of  the  northern  groups  of  mines  oc- 
cur in  the  Rewah  group  of  the  Upper  Vindyan  series,  and 
of  the  southern  groups,  in  the  Banaganpilly  of  the  Lower 
Vindyan  section.  Quartz,  epidote,  jasper,  limonite,  chert 
and  corundum  are  associated  with  the  diamonds  in  the 
Cuddapah  and  neighboring  mines;  epidote,  ruby  and 
sapphire  in  the  Bellary  district;  quartz,  epidote,  limonite, 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     173 

corundum,  chert,  chalcedony  and  carnelian  in  the  mines 
of  the  Parteal  district;  quartz,  jasper,  hornstone  and 
prase  in  the  Panna  mines,  and  quartz,  carnelian,  beryl, 
topaz  and  garnet  in  the  Mahanadi  washings,  derived 
probably  in  this  last  case  from  the  disintegrated  rocks 
over  which  the  diamondiferous  material  has  been  washed. 

The  entire  product  of  the  Indian  diamond  mines  is 
now  undoubtedly  very  small,  yet  it  is  probably  larger 
than  is  supposed.  The  most  productive,  those  of  the 
Panna  district  and  the  so-called  Golconda  mines,  are  con- 
trolled by  native  princes  who  take  and  hold  the  most 
valuable  part  of  the  diamonds  found,  and  practically  de- 
bar any  effort  by  Europeans  to  develop  the  industry. 
English  capitalists  have  made  experiments  at  various 
times  of  late  years,  but  have  not  been  rewarded  with 
much  success,  and  in  some  cases  have  met  flat  failure. 

It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  the  octahedron  was 
the  distinctive  form  of  the  diamond  crystals  of  India, 
whereas  in  Brazil  it  usually  occurs  as  a  rhombic  dodeca- 
hedron. Dr.  Max  Bauer  in  his  Edelsteinkunde  punctures 
this  belief  by  referring  to  specimens  from  the  various  In- 
dian mines  in  the  museum  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
India  at  Calcutta  and  in  the  mineralogical  collection  in 
Dresden.  He  says  a  majority  show  the  form  of  the  tet- 
rakis-hexadedron  and  the  hexakis-octahedron,  and  a  few, 
that  of  the  rhombic  dodecahedron. 

At  the  present  time,  India,  the  land  of  gems,  which 
for  centuries  has  glistened  in  the  imagination  of  the 
world  as  a  bit  of  the  earth  where  the  rocks  are 
studded  with  jewels,  and  the  sands  become  starred  with 
diamonds  as  the  miner  turns  them  to  the  tropical 
sun,  imports  more  diamonds  in  a  year  and  of  greater 


174  THE  DIAMOND 

value  than  all  the  gems  of  every  kind  which  she 
produces.  Until  Mohammedan  invasions  about  the  first 
part  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  native  princes  of  India 
held  all  the  best  of  the  yield  of  the  diamond  mines,  but 
from  that  time  they  were  periodically  plundered  by  for- 
eign powers,  and  a  large  part  of  the  store  of  centuries 
was  carried  off,  until  the  invaders  established  dynasties 
within  the  country,  when  they  began  to  accumulate 
precious  stones  for  themselves,  as  their  despoiled  pred- 
ecessors had  done  before  them.  Muhammed  Ghori 
commenced  to  pillage  India  in  1176.  He  founded  the 
Mohammedan  rule  there,  and  it  is  said,  had  accumulated 
about  400  Ibs.  of  diamonds  by  the  time  he  was  assas- 
sinated in  1206. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  all  the  great  historic  plunder- 
ings  were  made  at  Delhi  and  Lahore,  two  cities  outside 
the  known  diamond  fields,  considerably  north  of  the 
Punna  mines,  which,  as  far  as  we  know,  were  the  most 
northerly  of  all  the  Indian  diamond  mines.  There  is  an 
Indian  tradition  that  diamonds  have  been  found  in  the 
Himalayas.  In  1870  it  was  reported  that  some  diamonds 
were  found  after  a  great  storm  at  Simla  on  the  lower 
ranges  of  the  Himalayas.  Either  mines  of  great  im- 
portance existed  in  ancient  times  far  north  of  those 
known  now,  or  the  princes  of  that  country  made  incur- 
sions far  to  the  south  to  obtain  them.  This  was  cer- 
tainly done  later,  for  while  Shah  Jehan  reigned  in  Delhi, 
his  son  Aurungzebe,  at  his  command,  made  war  upon  his 
enemies  at  Allhabahad  and  as  far  south  as  the  Deccan. 
As  he  was  successful  in  the  battles  fought,  and  the  Panna 
and  Golconda  mines  lay  in  those  territories,  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  suppose  that  a  large  part  of  the  stored  prod- 


THE  DIAMOND  MINES  OF  INDIA     175 

uct  of  the  mines  went  back  with  him  to  Delhi.     In  those 
days,  "  to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils  "  was  an  axiom. 

The  diamond  region  of  India  lies  within  an  elevated 
triangle  broken  into  hills  and  valleys.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  Vindyan  mountains,  and  on  the  east  and 
west  by  the  Eastern  and  Western  Ghats.  The  land  in  the 
northern  part  of  this  triangle  consists  of  what  is  called 
the  Upper  Vindyan  series,  consisting  of  various  groups 
of  which  the  second,  called  the  Rewah  group,  carries 
the  diamonds.  This  Upper  Vindyan  series  is  absent  in 
the  south,  where  the  Lower  Vindyan  series  comes  to  the 
surface,  and  in  this  the  Banaganpilly  group  is  diamondif- 
erous.  Imagine  it.  All  over  this  wide  territory,  thou- 
sands of  years  ago,  the  mother-rock  of  the  diamonds  was 
bared  to  the  weather  and  little  by  little  broken  up  and 
scattered,  the  waters  carrying  it  as  particles,  with  the 
precious  enclosures  freed  from  its  embrace,  far  and 
wide.  During  the  centuries,  the  matrix  changed  and  be- 
came altered  beyond  recognition,  but  the  diamond  re- 
mained the  same  except  for  the  rounding  of  its  corners 
where  the  journey  was  long  and  the  ages  of  its  travels 
very  many.  More  centuries,  and  the  wash  of  mountain 
torrents  spread  the  debris  of  the  hills  and  highlands 
grain  by  grain  over  the  thin  stratum  of  diamonds  which 
covered  the  earth,  until  they  were  buried  again  by  the 
accumulations  of  ages.  More  centuries,  and  new 
streams  cut  their  paths  in  the  face  of  this  new  earth, 
uncovering  here  and  there  the  tombs  of  the  diamonds  of 
long  ago,  rolling  the  crystals  once  more  along  the  deep 
grooves  of  their  sunlit  beds,  and  leaving  the  diamond 
stratum  exposed  again  along  their  banks,  or  high  up  on 
the  hillsides  where  they  cut  deep  into  the  earth.  Who 


176  THE  DIAMOND 

can  tell  where  the  wash  of  ages  has  carried  them,  and 
how  many  yet  lie  sleeping  under  the  rocks  and  hills  worn 
down  to  grains  and  deposited  by  the  water  upon  them  as 
a  new  stratum.  A  few  small  holes  in  thousands  of 
square  miles  mark  the  discoveries  of  man  in  thousands 
of  years.  Now,  few  diamonds  are  found  in  India  ex- 
cept where  the  rivers  wash  them  from  their  places  of 
concealment  and  carry  them  to  light  and  the  eye  of  man. 
Nor  is  it  strange,  for  the  diamondiferous  strata  are  thin 
deposits  and  scattered.  A  few  inches  to  a  few  feet 
thick  at  the  most;  sometimes  near  the  surface,  sometimes 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  under  it;  nothing  to  betray  them 
except  where  they  themselves  appear  on  the  surface,  thou- 
sands might  look  long  and  far  and  not  find  them.  As 
the  ancient  mines  became  exhausted,  India  as  the  land 
of  diamonds  was  eclipsed  by  Brazil,  and  now  fades  to 
a  memory  before  the  rising  sun  of  Africa. 


CHAPTER  IX 

DIAMOND   MINES   OF   BRAZIL 

T^\IAMONDS  were  first  discovered  in  Brazil  by  na- 
•*^  tives  while  washing  the  sands  for  gold,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  year  1725  is 
given  as  the  date,  but  they  were  not  recognized  until 
1727  and  may  have  been  found  even  earlier.  There  is 
a  tradition  that  the  stones  afterwards  found  to  be  dia- 
monds, were  known  in  the  gold  washings  as  early  as 
1670.  Inasmuch  as  the  streams  in  which  the  gold  wash- 
ings were  conducted  proved  later  to  be  very  rich  in  dia- 
monds, it  is  quite  probable  that  they  had  attracted  atten- 
tion for  many  years  before  their  value  was  known.  It 
is  said  that  the  gold  miners  used  them  as  counters  in 
their  games  of  chance,  and  that  a  man  who  had  seen 
rough  diamonds  in  India,  observing  them  in  the  hands 
of  the  miners  and  noting  the  similarity,  secured  a  num- 
ber of  them  and  took  them  to  Lisbon  the  following  year, 
where  their  identity  was  established.  He  sold  them,  and 
in  doing  so  drew  attention  to  the  new  fields. 

The  discovery  was  made  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Tejuco,  a  town  in  the  district  of  Serra  do  Frio,  province 
of  Minas  Geraes,  about  300  miles  north  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  about  250  miles  west  of  the  Atlantic  coast. 
Tejuco  is  now  called  Diamantina  and  is  the  center  of  the 
diamond  industry  of  the  Minas  Geraes  district.  The 

12  177 


178  THE  DIAMOND 

district  is  an  exceedingly  rough  plateau  at  an  elevation 
of  about  4,000  feet  above  sea  level,  cut  up  by  gorges  and 
deep  valleys,  enclosed  by  abrupt,  mountainous  walls. 
Throughout,  numerous  streams  rise,  joining  later  to  form 
tributaries  of  the  Jequetinhonha  flowing  to  the  north 
and  east,  of  the  Sao  Francisco  going  north,  and  of  the 
Doce,  running  south  and  east.  The  mountains  divide 
the  drainage  of  the  Sao  Francisco  on  the  west,  and  the 
Jequetinhonha  and  Doce  on  the  east.  The  Diamantina 
district  lies  between  the  Rio  das  Valhas  on  the  west,  and 
the  headwaters  of  the  Jequetinhonha  and  Doce  on  the 
east. 

When  it  became  known  that  diamonds  were  to  be 
picked  up  thereabouts,  people  flocked  to  the  neighborhood 
and  found  them  in  all  directions,  in  and  near  the  streams. 
A  few  were  found  also  between  the  headwaters  of  two 
tributaries  of  the  Rio  Doce,  about  half  way  between 
Diamantina  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  near  the  town  of  Cocaes. 

Brazil  was  at  this  time  a  Portuguese  dependency,  and 
when  the  home  government  learned  that  diamonds  were 
being  found  in  the  colony,  it  laid  claim  to  all  diamond- 
bearing  lands  and  streams,  but  in  the  beginning  gave 
permission  to  anyone  to  mine  on  payment  of  toll  for 
each  slave  employed,  the  number  of  them  being  pre- 
scribed by  contract.  This  tax  was  constantly  raised  un- 
til it  became  so  onerous  that  nobody  would  mine  under 
the  conditions.  But  the  diamondiferous  gravels  lay 
scattered  in  every  direction,  and  the  hills  held  also  many 
natives  and  escaped  slaves  who  were  expert  miners. 
These  smugglers,  or  "  Garimpeiros  "  as  they  were  called, 
undoubtedly  continued  to  wash  the  sands  surreptitiously 
for  diamonds,  adding  many  to  the  world's  stock  of  pre- 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        179 

cious  stones  which  have  never  been  entered  up  on  sta- 
tistic's  ledgers. 

To  revive  the  industry,  the  government  in  1740 
granted  concessions,  and  the  fields  were  worked  in  that 
way,  but  with  poor  results  for  the  government,  until 
1772,  when  the  authorities  decided  to  work  the  mines 
for  government  account,  and  did  so  until  Brazil  threw 
off  the  Portuguese  yoke  in  1834.  During  that  period 
all  the  best  stones  found  were  sent  to  the  Crown  jewels 
at  Lisbon.  The  others  were  sold  to  dealers  and  shipped 
from  Rio  and  Bahia  city  to  Europe. 

After  Brazil  established  her  own  government,  mining 
privileges  could  be  had  anywhere  by  anyone  on  payment 
of  a  small  tax  to  the  government,  and  a  proprietary  tax 
of  25  per  cent,  on  the  gross  receipts.  In  addition  y^ 
per  cent,  was  charged  on  exports.  Although  the  laws 
have  been  modified  at  various  times,  this  general  plan 
has  been  adhered  to  from  that  time  until  now. 

In  those  early  days,  and  until  the  prejudice  excited 
by  the  dealers  in  Indian  diamonds  against  the  Brazilian 
had  been  overcome,  the  diamonds  were  shipped  first  to 
Goa,  a  Portuguese  possession  in  India,  and  then  sent 
from  there  as  Indian  stones.  The  Hollanders  used  the 
prejudice  existing  against  Brazilian  diamonds,  in  an 
effort  to  get  control  of  the  entire  output,  but  they  failed 
to  gain  it,  and  most  of  the  diamonds  were  sent  to  Lon- 
don. Later,  many  of  them  went  to  Paris  also. 

The  early  method  of  working  the  fields  was  about  the 
same  as  now  except  that  slave  labor  was  employed. 
Gangs  of  slaves  gathered  and  washed  the  cascalho  under 
the  eye  of  an  overseer  who  sat  among  them  on  a  shaded 
elevation,  armed  with  a  long-lashed  whip.  When  one 


180  THE  DIAMOND 

found  a  diamond,  he  gave  a  signal  to  the  overseer,  who 
took  it  from  him  and  deposited  it  in  a  bowl  of  water  at 
his  side.  At  the  end  of  the  day's  labor  the  stones  were 
counted,  weighed,  recorded,  and  deposited  in  a  safe  place. 
Many  of  the  slaves  were  adept  thieves.  Some  were  so 
expert  and  had  so  many  tricks  of  concealment,  that  the 
most  suspicious  watchfulness  failed  to  detect  them,  and 
the  stones  they  concealed  were  undoubtedly  of  the  best. 
If  discovered  they  were  punished  unmercifully.  As  an 
offset  to  the  barbarous  inflictions  for  dishonesty,  a  sys- 
tem of  rewards  for  honesty  was  established.  Small  pres- 
ents of  cotton  cloth,  tobacco  and  the  like,  were  distrib- 
uted to  the  successful,  and  while  slaves  were  cheap,  the 
finder  of  a  stone  weighing  one  oitava  (1^/2  carats)  or 
over,  received  his  freedom.  Nevertheless  diamonds  were 
stolen  constantly  and  many  slaves  escaped  to  the  interior, 
thereby  extending  the  fields,  for  many  of  the  dia- 
mondiferous  deposits  were  discovered  by  garimpeiros, 
who  could  prospect  only  where  the  hand  of  the  govern- 
ment did  not  reach. 

In  1785,  garimpeiros  discovered  diamonds  about  one 
hundred  miles  west  of  Diamantina  between  the  streams 
which  form  the  head  waters  of  the  Sao  Francisco  run- 
ning north  and  the  tributaries  of  the  Paranahiba  flow- 
ing south.  This  district  is  also  in  the  province  of 
Minas  Geraes,  though  the  western  part  of  it  is  very 
close  to  the  borders  of  Goyaz.  Bagagem  is  to  these 
fields  what  Tejuco  or  Diamantina  was  to  its  district. 
For  some  time  the  garimpeiros  worked  these  fields  with-* 
out  concessions,  and  unhampered  by  the  authorities. 
The  district  became  prominent  because  several  large 
stones  were  found  in  it.  The  first  discoveries  were  on 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        181 

the  eastern  side,  one  of  the  largest  of  all  Brazilian  dia- 
monds being  found  in  the  Rio  Abaete.  Later,  as  the 
miners  extended  their  operations  westward,  large  stones 
were  found  there  also,  the  "  Star  of  the  South  "  being 
discovered  near  Bagagem. 

In  1827  diamonds  were  found  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Grao  Mogol,  about  150  miles  north  and  a  little  east 
of  Diamantina.  The  neighborhood  had  been  prospected 
some  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  earlier.  The  dia- 
mondiferous  deposits  lie  about  several  tributaries  of  the 
Jequetinhonha  having  their  rise-  in  a  chain  of  hills  which 
follow  the  river  on  the  northwest  side.  The  crystals 
are  found  there  in  a  solid  sandstone  conglomerate  which 
the  miners  named  "  Pigeons'  Eggs."  As  with  all  new 
fields,  a  great  many  gathered  at  these  diggings,  so  that 
in  1839  it  was  estimated  there  were  2,000  persons  work- 
ing in  the  district.  The  number  soon  after  dwindled 
rapidly  and  has  since  become  unimportant. 

In  January,  1867,  a  garimpeiro  found  a  diamond  in  the 
gorgulho  near  the  Agua  Suja  brook,  about  12  mites 
south  of  Bagagem,  and  a  rush  in  that  direction  ensued. 
A  majority  of  the  claims  were  worked  on  a  percentage. 
The  garimpeiros  rented  parts  of  claims  and  hired  slave 
labor.  Bullock  skins  were  used  to  carry  the  dirt  down 
from  the  gorgulho  to  stream  level.  For  a  time  they 
made  money  fast.  Then  came  the  African  discoveries 
and  prices  broke.  Buyers  refused  to  pay  as  much  as 
they  had  been  paying,  and  the  miners,  suspicious  of  them, 
refused  to  sell  at  lower  figures.  They  borrowed  money 
to  carry  their  expenses  and  held  their  diamonds,  until 
eventually  most  of  them  lost  all  they  had. 

The  discoveries  of  diamonds  in  Minas  Geraes  natu- 


i82  THE  DIAMOND 

rally  excited  interest  throughout  Brazil,  and  the  tales  of 
fortunes  picked  out  of  the  sands  of  the  hills  and  rivers, 
caused  the  natives  everywhere  to  look  for  them.  They 
were  found  in  and  about  the  streams  near  the  western 
borders  of  Minas  Geraes  in  the  province  of  Goyaz. 
Up  to  1850  it  is  said  that  252,000  carats  were  taken  from 
the  Paranahiba,  the  Rio  Claro  and  tributary  streams. 

Many  streams  in  Matto  Grosso,  up  to  the  Bolivian 
frontier  proved  to  be  diamondiferous.  The  source  of 
the  Paraguay  river  and  its  tributaries  near  Diamantina, 
particularly  the  right  side  of  Rio  Cuyaba,  yielded  many 
diamonds.  They  were  all  small  stones  and  very  many 
were  colored,  but  some  were  very  good.  Unlike  most 
of  the  Brazilian  diamonds,  the  crystals  were  distinguished 
by  very  brilliant  exteriors.  Considerably  over  one  mil- 
lion carats  were  reported  from  this  district  by  1850. 

In  the  province  of  S.  Paolo,  south  of  Minas  Geraes, 
diamonds  were  taken  from  the  Rio  Parana  and  its  tribu- 
taries, and  some  were  found  in  the  Rio  Tibagy  and  its 
tributaries  the  Yapo  and  the  Pitangru,  in  the  province 
of  Parana.  They  were  also  found  in  deposits  on  the 
neighboring  heights.  The  stones  were  found  chiefly 
in  a  Devonian  sandstone  through  which  the  streams  run. 
The  crystals  were  small,  and  the  quantity  found  too 
meager  to  encourage  persistent  work,  so  that  regular 
mining  was  given  up. 

Equally  important  with  the  fields  of  Minas  Geraes 
are  those  of  Bahia.  Though  divided  into  a  number  of 
districts  there  are  two  natural  divisions  only,  viz. :  the 
section  about  the  Paraguassu  river  and  its  tributaries 
and  the  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Sao  Francisco,  and  another 
and  smaller  area  along  the  valley  of  the  Pardo  river  near 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        183 

the  coast  south  and  east  of  the  Paraguassu  fields.  This 
is  called  the  Cannavieiras  district,  from  the  port  of  that 
name  by  which  entry  to  it  is  made.  At  present  the  dia- 
mond-mining industry  is  practically  confined  to  the 
States  of  Minas  Geraes  and  Bahia,  the  fields  of  the 
latter  being  more  important  because  carbon  is  found  in 
them  with  the  diamonds. 

It  is  said  that  diamonds  were  known  to  exist  in  the 
State  of  Bahia  as  far  back  as  1755,  but  the  government, 
thinking  that  mining  would  be  hurtful  to  the  agricultural 
interests,  refused  to  allow  any  mining  to  be  done.  The 
date  of  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in  Bahia  is  therefore 
given  usually  as  1821,  when  they  were  found  in  the 
Serra  do  Sincora,  but  in  common  with  many  other 
discoveries  it  was  not  followed  immediately  by  the 
development  of  an  industry.  To  find  an  occasional  dia- 
mond in  a  wide  territory  of  wild  country  difficult  of 
access,  may  indicate  that  it  contains  great  treasures,  but 
the  hiding  places  are  usually  discovered  by  accident  long 
after  the  fact  of  their  existence  is  known.  It  was  so  in 
this  instance.  In  1844,  23  years  after  the  discovery, 
Jose  Persira  do  Prado,  journeying  to  Bahia  city,  camped 
on  the  bank  of  the  Mocuge,  a  small  tributary  of  the 
Paraguassu  river,  and  quite  accidentally  found  a  quantity. 
This  becoming  known,  many  went  there.  S.  Joao  do 
Paraguassu,  or  Santa  Isabel,  was  founded  on  the  site 
of  the  discovery,  and  has  remained  a  center  of  the  dis- 
trict, which  from  that  time  grew  in  area  and  importance. 

The  State  divides  the  Bahia  diamond  region  into  14 
districts:  Lencoes,  Andarahy,  Chique-Chique,  Santa 
Isabel,  Cravada,  Lavinha,  Campestre,  Morro  do  Chapeo, 
Bom  Jesus,  S.  Ignacio,  Chapeda  Velha,  Paraguassu,  Sin- 


1 84  THE  DIAMOND 

cora  and  Cannavieiras,  all  but  the  latter  being  on  the 
Paraguassu  river  and  its  tributaries  and  the  tributaries 
of  the  Rio  Sao  Francisco.  Not  only  are  the  Paraguassu 
fields  much  more  extensive,  but  they  are  also  more  pro- 
ductive. The  diamonds  from  that  section  are  also  finer, 
but  not  as  perfect  usually  as  those  of  the  Cannavieiras 
district.  The  most  productive  part  of  the  Paraguassu 
fields  is  about  four  days  journey  from  Bahia  city.  The 
route  is  by  small  steamer  across  the  bay  and  up  the 
Paraguassu  river  about  45  miles  to  Cachoeira,  a  journey 
of  six  to  eight  hours,  then  by  train  next  day  155  miles 
to  Bandeira  de  Mello,  consuming  ten  to  twelve  hours, 
from  which  point  there  is  a  two  days'  journey  of  64 
miles  by  mule  to  Andarahy. 

Another  way  to  the  Bahia  fields,  is  to  go  by  the  Bahia 
and  Sao  Francisco  Railway  north  to  Queimadas  or 
Villa  Nova,  and  from  either  of  those  points  to  the  in- 
terior by  mule-back,  or  to  continue  on  to  Joazeiro  by 
rail  and  then  by  boat  up  the  Sao  Francisco,  going  south 
from  there  by  mule-back.  This  route  taps  the  dia- 
mondiferous  district  lying  between  Rio  Jacare  and  Rio 
do  Salitre,  or  at  Chique-Chique  brings  one  near  to  the 
fields  extending  south  to  the  mountain  between  the  Rio 
Paramirim  on  the  west  and  the  Lencoes  district  on  the 
east.  The  Bandeira  de  Mello  route  reaches  the  fields 
which  extend  from  Morro  do  Chapeo  in  the  north 
through  Lencoes  and  Mocuge  to  Sincora  in  the  south. 

Diamonds  are  found  at  Joao  Amaro,  103  miles  from 
Cachoeira,  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  but  very  few  are 
found  between  there  and  Andarahy.  The  Paraguassu 
fields  extend  from  the  village  of  Sincora  in  the  south 
to  tl^e  Serra  do  Tombador  in  the  north,  and  from  east  of 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        185 

Morro  do  Chapeo  to  Chique-Chique  and  the  Rio 
Paramirim  in  the  west.  The  most  productive  district 
so  far  lies  between  Sincora  in  the  south  and  about  25 
miles  beyond  the  village  of  Morro  do  Chapeo  in  the  north. 
There  may  be  other  districts  as  rich,  but  this  has  a 
reliable  water  supply  and  has  therefore  been  very 
thoroughly  explored.  In  some  sections  the  streams  are 
dry  in  the  dry  seasons  and  short-lived  torrents  in  the 
wet  seasons,  making  it  difficult  to  gather  the  cascalho 
in  the  one  and  to  wash  it  in  the  other.  The  fields  here 
also  are  very  compact,  extending  about  150  miles  north 
and  south  with  an  east  to  west  width  of  about  15  to 
30  miles.  All  the  Bahia  fields  of  this  section  lie  within 
a  strip  of  country  about  225  miles  north  and  south  by 
140  miles  east  and  west.  Diamonds  are  found,  however, 
in  the  rivers  having  their  rise  in  the  diamond  hills,  far 
beyond  the  diamondiferous  region.  In  1898  diamonds 
were  found  with  gold  in  the  Rio  Itapicuri,  250  miles 
below  the  town  of  Queimadas. 

The  diamonds  are  sold  to  buyers  on  the  fields.  These 
men  assort  the  stones  into  five  grades.  "  Bons "  are 
crystals  of  good  shape  and  color ;  "  f azenda  fina  "  are 
small  and  tinted,  but  fine ;  "  melee  "  are  imperfect  and 
off  color ;  "  vitrie  "  or  vidrilhos  are  very  small  bright 
stones  of  various  colors ;  "  fundos  "  are  broken  or  de- 
fective crystals  mixed  with  second  quality  carbons. 
The  stones  are  usually  small.  Of  a  thousand  carats 
taken  as  they  were  found  several  years  ago,  the  largest 
stone  weighed  3 ^carats.  That  would  produce  a  cut 
diamond  of  less  than  1*4  carats.  About  thirty  per 
cent,  of  the  production  are  fundos.  It  was  reported  in 
1903  that  prices  paid  at  the  fields  averaged,  $11.50  for 


1 86  THE  DIAMOND 

No.  i;  $10.50  for  No.  2;  $5.00  for  No  3  and  $2.50 
for  No.  5,  per  carat.  They  are  sold  by  the  oitava 
(i7/^  carats).  Vitrie  are  sold  by  the  grao  (about 
J4  carat),  in  which  there  are  six  or  eight  stones.  They 
brought  about  $2.88  at  the  time. 

According  to  former  Vice-counsel  Rowe,  the  limit  of 
price  paid  by  the  field  buyers  of  Bahia  in  the  spring  of 
1906  was  as  follows: 

Bons,    good,    well    formed 
stones  averaging  Y2  carat  860  milreis  per  oitava  =  $16.38  perct. 

Bons,  6  to  8  graos  each 20  milreis  per  grao    =   27.38  per  ct. 

Bons,  4  graos  each 16  milreis  per  grao    =  21.90  perct. 

Bons,  10  to  16  graos  each..     25  milreis  per  grao    =  34.25  perct. 

Fazenda   fina  396  milreis  per  oitava  =     7.55  per  ct. 

Vitrie    7  milreis  per  grao    =     9.58  per  ct. 

Fundos    108  milreis  per  oitava  =     2.06  per  ct. 

The  current  rate  of  exchange  at  that  time  being  at  17 
pence  to  the  milreis,  the  latter  is  reckoned  in  the  above 
figures  at  3  to  the  dollar.  There  are  72  graos  to  the 
oitava  which  equals  17^/2  carats;  a  grao  is  therefore 
about  J4  carat.  Nearly  all  the  stones  are  exported  un- 
cut, though  there  are  several  cutting  establishments  in 
the  diamond  region  and  one  in  Bahia  city.  To  get  a 
fair  idea  of  the  value  of  the  stones  in  the  market,  there 
should  be  added  the  cost  of  transportation  to  Bahia, 
the  export  duty  equaling  about  13  per  cent.,  dealer's 
profit,  and  steamer  and  insurance  charges.  When  this 
is  done  it  will  be  found  that  the  Brazilian  fields  have 
approximated  their  prices  closely  to  those  established  by 
the  Diamond  Syndicate  in  London. 

Mining  is  conducted  in  a  general  way,  the  same  as 
in  all  other  alluvial  deposits  the  world  over,  though  no 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        187 

effort  is  made  to  divert  the  streams,  as  is  done  in  some 
cases  in  the  Minas  Geraes  diggings.  A  method  peculiar 
to  the  Paraguassu,  is  employed  largely  on  the  main  river, 
especially  from  Joao  Amaro  to  Andarahy.  The  miners 
use  diving  machines,  probably  movable  caissons,  in 
which  a  man  can  work  for  several  hours  on  the  river 
bottom.  Under  cover  of  one  of  these,  two  men  work 
alternately  it  is  said,  in  three-hour  shifts,  gathering 
the  cascalho  into  sacks  lowered  to  them  from  the  sur- 
face. Others  dive  for  the  cascalho  much  the  same  as 
the  pearl  divers  dive  on  the  pearl  banks,  gathering  as 
much  of  the  gravel  as  they  can  during  the  submergence. 
In  the  shallows,  others  drag  the  gravel  into  the  mouths 
of  sacks  with  their  feet.  The  diamondiferous  material  is 
found  not  only  in  the  beds  of  the  streams  and  rivers,  but 
also  in  fissures  and  gullies  in  the  rocks  which  bank  the  val- 
leys of  the  water-courses,  as  in  the  other  Brazilian  fields. 
The  sands  and  gravels  are  gathered  from  the  beds  of 
the  streams  in  dry  seasons,  and  from  fissures  and  beds 
in  the  rocks  during  the  wet  seasons.  The  richest  finds 
are  made  usually  in  pot-holes  in  the  river  beds. 

The  tools  and  methods  used  in  the  mining  are  crude, 
and  some  think  that  with  capital  and  machinery,  better 
results  could  be  obtained,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  it  would 
be  as  profitable  on  the  average.  Undoubtedly  there  are 
great  deposits  of  diamondiferous  material  yet  unworked, 
and  there  are  doubtless  rich  gravels  in  the  sections  al- 
ready worked,  which  cannot  be  reached  with  the  appli- 
ances now  in  use,  as  for  instance  the  lower  parts  of  the 
deposits  in  gullies  and  fissures  in  the  rocks,  river  bot- 
toms which  have  been  covered  by  debris  from  washings 
on  the  streams  above,  and  the  like,  but  with  deposits  of 


i88  THE  DIAMOND 

uncertain  richness,  which  may  be  here  or  may  be  there 
over  square  miles  of  very  rough  country,  the  odds  seem 
to  be  largely  against  adequate  returns  for  an  expensive 
equipment.  In  the  Minas  Geraes  district,  two  modern 
gold  dredges  adapted  to  save  diamonds  have  been  lately 
installed  on  the  Jequetinhonha  by  American  companies. 
The  mining  laws  are  another  difficulty.  Though  liberal 
on  the  face,  there  are  uncertainties  which  have  proved 
costly.  A  former  leaseholder  may  establish  a  claim, 
through  some  irregularity  in  a  previous  transfer,  after 
the  leasehold  has  been  developed  at  great  expense  by  a 
stranger  ignorant  of  prior  conditions.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  the  various  States  in  which  diamonds 
occur  make  their  own  laws  governing  the  mining  for 
them,  and  as  they  are  somewhat  complicated,  an  attempt 
to  state  the  provisions  definitely  might  prove  misleading. 
As  written,  they  tend  to  encourage  enterprises  of  that 
character.  Concessions  are  to  be  had  on  apparently 
easy  terms.  Persons  of  any  nationality  can  take  out 
a  claim,  but  the  authorities  pass  on  the  ability  of  the 
applicants  to  prosecute  the  work.  In  a  general  way, 
mining  lands  belong  to  the  State.  If  diamonds  are 
discovered  on  private  property,  the  discoverer  can  be 
empowered  by  the  State  to  prospect  and  mine,  by  secur- 
ing the  owner  against  surface  damage  to  the  property 
and  paying  a  tax  to  the  government.  If  the  discovery 
it  made  on  government  lands,  he  can  obtain  a  concession 
or  a  license  to  dig  within  certain  prescribed  limits,  and 
if  in  the  bed  of  a  river,  within  a  certain  length  of  it,  by 
making  application  to  the  authorities,  and  paying  a  small 
tax.  In  the  case  of  a  concession  he  must  also  prove  his 
financial  ability  to  be  adequate  to  the  undertaking.  A 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        189 

prescribed  time  is  allowed  in  which  to  commence  opera- 
tions and  make  them  commensurate  with  the  concession, 
at  the  expiration  of  which,  if  satisfactory  work  has  not 
been  done,  the  claim  may  be  reentered  by  another. 

Altogether,  the  laws  and  conditions  favor  individual 
digging  under  a  mining  license.  The  concessioners  and 
leaseholders  usually  find  it  to  be  more  safe  and  profitable 
to  allow  miners  to  mine  on  their  concessions  for  a  royalty 
of  from  one-fifth  to  one-quarter  of  the  value  of  the 
diamonds  and  carbon  found,  than  to  attempt  to  mine  on 
their  own  account  with  hired  labor.  As  the  miners  sell 
the  diamonds  to  the  field  buyers  of  the  cities,  and  the 
latter  arrange  to  inform  the  leaseholders  of  the  amount 
handled,  and  in  some  cases  to  reserve  his  royalty,  the 
owner  of  the  concession  gets  in  that  way  more  than 
would  escape  the  thievery  of  hired  labor  to  him,  and  with 
less  trouble. 

The  field-buyers  of  Bahia,  who  represent  a  number  of 
exporters  in  Bahia  city,  work  independently,  and  the 
miners  get  the  equivalent  of  outside  market  rates  less 
costs  and  a  fair  profit  for  transference  from  the  fields. 
The  miners  usually  store  the  cascalho  and  wash  it  week 
ends.  They  are  very  expert  in  picking  diamonds  and 
carbon  from  similar  stones. 

The  world's  supply  of  carbonado,  or  "  carbons  "  as 
the  stones  are  called,  comes  from  the  Bahia  fields.  They 
are  found  with  the  diamonds  in  the  Paraguassu  diggings, 
and  were  first  discovered  in  1843  in  grupiaras  at  San 
Jose,  district  Sincora.  Prior  to  1856  they  were  thought 
to  be  valueless  and  were  thrown  away.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  swamps  in  the  diamond  fields,  beneath  which 
the  diamondiferous  deposits  disappear.  These  deposits 


190  THE  DIAMOND 

have  been  worked  to  the  edge  of  the  morass  and  then 
abandoned  for  lack  of  machinery  to  drain,  and  it  is 
thought  that  in  addition  to  the  deposits  lying  under 
them,  the  swamps  contain  large  quantities  of  carbonado 
that  have  been  washed  into  them  with  the  tailings  and 
lost  during  the  years  when  the  value  of  carbons  was 
unknown. 

The  output  was  said  to  average  about  2,500  carats 
per  month  in  1902,  but  must  be  very  much  larger  now 
and  probably  was  at  that  time  also.  There  is  a  steady 
and  increasing  demand  for  carbons  owing  to  the  constant 
increase  of  drilling,  pumping,  and  other  machinery  re- 
quiring a  very  hard  substance.  The  average  weight  of 
the  stones  found  is  about  six  carats.  The  most  desir- 
able sizes  are  those  weighing  from  one  to  six  carats, 
those  being  the  sizes  used  generally  for  higher 
mechanical  purposes.  Larger  stones  are  broken  up  and 
the  pieces  have  the  advantage  over  the  natural  stones 
that  they  show  the  inner  quality  of  the  stone.  Never- 
theless, selected  natural  stones  are  preferred  by  expert 
engineers,  because  the  natural  formation  renders  them 
less  liable  to  wear  and  breakage  than  the  square  corners 
and  sharp  edges  of  the  broken  up  stones.  Some 
enormous  pieces  have  been  found.  The  first  very  large 
one,  discovered  on  the  ledge  of  a  mountain  in  the  Len- 
coes  district  in  1895  weighed  3,078  carats.  It  measured 
about  3  inches  x  3  inches  x  3%  inches.  I.  K.  Gulland  of 
London  bought  it  September  15,  1895,  of  Kahn  &  Co.  of 
Bahia  for  £6,400.  He  broke  it  up  into  pieces  suitable 
for  diamond  drills  and  sold  it  for  ten  per  cent,  profit. 
Seven  years  later  it  would  have  brought  four  times  as 
much.  A  piece  of  975  carats  was  found  the  year 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        191 

previous.  It  was  broken  up  in  Paris  and  sold  for  a  sum 
equal  to  over  $19,000.  The  Parisian  dealer  was  not 
fortunate,  as  it  cost  him  more.  Another  large  piece 
found  in  1901,  of  fine  quality  and  weighing  750^ 
carats,  was  broken  to  pieces  of  three  to  four  carats. 
Another  large  carbon  weighing  65O3/64  carats  was  found 
in  1909,  and  at  present  is  not  broken  up.  It  is  of  good 
quality  and  worth  in  New  York  about  $55  per  carat. 
The  specific  gravity  of  good  carbons  ranges  from  3.15 
t°  3-3°-  If  a  carbon  is  lower  than  3.15  it  is  not  suffi- 
ciently crystalline;  if  over  3.30,  it  is  over  crystallized 
for  good  work,  approaching  bort  in  construction.  This 
piece  has  a  specific  gravity  of  3.22. 

The  Cannavieiras  district  is  quite  distinct  geographic- 
ally from  the  other  Bahia  districts,  which  are  all,  though 
divided  into  districts  surrounding  as  many  towns  as 
centers,  practically  the  same  fields.  This  came  to  be 
known  as  a  diamond  district  about  1881.  It  is  reached 
by  the  Pardo  river  in  canoes  56  miles  to  Jacaranda, 
and  from  there  by  mule-back,  12  miles  higher  up  the 
river  to  Salobro.  The  early  workings  were  confined  to 
the  river  and  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  the 
country  has  not  been  as  widely  prospected  as  in  other 
fields,  owing  to  a  lack  of  water  in  many  directions.  The 
diamonds  are  usually  small  and  clear,  but  do  not  average 
as  good  in  quality  as  those  of  the  Paraguassu  districts. 
Little  or  no  carbon  is  found. 

There  are  two  ways  of  reaching  Diamantina,  the 
center  of  the  principal  Minas  Geraes  diamond  fields. 
First,  by  leaving  the  railway  at  Curvelho  and  making  the 
journey  of  three  or  four  days  by  mule-train  through 
a  very  rough  country  by  a  trail  which  passes  over  two 


i92  THE  DIAMOND 

rivers  separated  by  high  ridges.  Where  the  trail  crosses 
the  main  ridge,  which  is  5,000  feet  high,  it  can  be  done 
only  on  mule-  or  horse-back.  The  other  way  is  by  con- 
tinuing north  by  rail  to  Curalinho  and  on  from  there 
by  rough  stages  and  wagons.  Though  the  latter  way 
does  not  contain  as  many  blood-curdling  passes  as  the 
other,  it  was  considered  worse,  formerly,  being  very 
fatiguing.  The  introduction  of  rough  country  wagons 
of  American  make,  over  this  route,  ameliorated  the  con- 
ditions, and  they  have  been  further  improved  by  a  better- 
ment of  the  road.  Diamantina  can  now  be  reached  by 
fast  mule-back  over  this  route  in  two  days  from  the 
railroad. 

This  field  extends  over  an  immense  territory  of  a  very 
wild,  rough  character,  on  both  sides  of  the  northern  end 
of  the  Serra  do  Espinhaco.  It  is  a  plateau  broken  up  by 
steep-sided,  deep  valleys,  in  which  numerous  streams  that 
feed  the  Jequetinhonha  and  the  Sao  Francisco  rivers, 
have  their  rise.  The  Jequetinhonha  after  running  north- 
east, when  it  turns  due  east  to  empty  into  the  Atlantic, 
becomes  the  Rio  Belmonte.  The  diamonds  are  found  in 
the  streams,  the  valleys  of  the  streams,  and  in  crevices 
and  depressions  in  the  hills. 

Operations  in  Brazil  are  carried  on  now  largely  by 
"  servicoes," —  bands  of  workmen  hired  by  one  man  or 
organized  into  squads  which  divide  results.  These 
select  "  journaleiro,"  or  spots  where  they  feel  sure  of 
finding  diamonds,  and  proceed  to  gather  the  cascalho 
and  wash  it  in  their  primitive  way  according  to  the 
season  and  conditions.  The  natives  carry  small  wooden 
bottles,  made  by  boring  out  the  center  of  a  straight  twig 
into  which  they  fit  a  wooden  stopper,  for  the  purpose  of 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        193 

depositing  the  small  diamonds  as  they  find  them  in  the 
wash.  Rich  finds  are  sometimes  made  in  a  "  poco  "  or 
pool  in  the  river  bed  in  which  the  cascalho  has  been 
caught,  especially  where  a  "cochoeira"  or  waterfall  has 
been  for  ages  washing  rich  deposits  from  above.  The 
conical  wooden  dish  used  for  washing  is  called  "  bateia." 
The  "  carimbe  "  is  a  smaller  wooden  bowl  in  which  the 
cascalho  is  carried  on  the  head.  The  river  beds  are 
wrorked  in  the  dry  season,  and  the  deposits  in  fissures  or 
depressions  in  the  rocks,  in  wet  seasons.  Carbons  do 
not  occur  in  Minas  Geraes,  but  larger  diamonds  are 
found  than  in  Bahia. 

The  Agua  Suja  district  is  a  southern  continuation 
of  these  fields.  It  lies  on  the  Bagagem  river,  one  of 
the  tributaries  of  the  Paranhiba,  12  miles  south  and  a 
little  east  of  Bagagem,  about  three  thousand  feet  above 
sea  level.  The  Mogyana  Railroad  runs  to  Uberaba, 
67  miles  from  Bagagem.  The  region  is  a  series  of 
terraces  sloping  to  the  west  from  Serra  da  Canastea  to 
the  Rio  Grande.  The  fall  of  the  rivers  is  considerable, 
and  the  currents  therefore  are  swift.  The  Rio  das 
Velhas  narrows  near  Agua  Suja  to  50  feet,  and  rushes 
over  two  falls  of  ten  and  thirteen  feet  with  great 
velocity.  The  Rio  Claro,  a  tributary  of  the  Rio  das 
Velhas,  also  runs  very  swiftly  over  a  bed  of  horizontal 
gravels  and  limonite  conglomerate.  The  Bagagem  river 
has  a  drop  of  J4  per  cent,  between  Bagagem  and  Agua 
Suja.  L.  B.  Gonzaga  de  Campos  describes  the  bottom 
of  the  valley  of  the  Bagagem  river  as  consisting  of 
mica-schist,  and  the  soil  on  the  slope  towards  Agua 
Suja  as  alluvial  with  pebbles  of  limonite.  The  Agua 
Suja  valley,  which  runs  east  and  west,  and  that  of  the 

13 


i94  THE  DIAMOND 

Bagagem  river  one  and  a  half  miles  to  the  west,  are 
full  of  old  excavations  of  diamond  workers.  The  soil 
near  Agua  Suja  church  is  alluvial  with  patches  of  fer- 
ruginous gravel.  The  basal  strata  are  of  mica-schist  and 
contain  quartz,  muscovite,  altered  tourmalines  and 
almandine  garnets.  The  heaviest  pan-residues  from 
this  rock  are  magnetite,  ilmenite,  rutile,  tourmaline, 
staurolite,  and  zircon.  Large  deposits  are  found  in  hol- 
lows in  the  hills.  An  examination  of  the  rear  wall  of 
an  excavation  in  one  of  these  deposits,  which  illustrates 
their  general  character  in  this  neighborhood  is  given  by 
L.  F.  Gonzaga  de  Campos,  as  follows : 

Ft.        In. 

Ferruginous  clay  and  gorgulho 4  3 

Ferruginous  clay    13  2 

Hard  Clay  schist  (Secundina)    4 

Estrellada    (diamondiferous)    2 

Secundina    (diamondiferous)    3  3 

Taua  (diamondiferous)   13  2 

The  ferruginous  clay,  like  the  "red  earth"  of  S. 
Paulo  and  the  wet  diggings  of  Africa,  leaves  a  residue 
on  washing  of  ilmenite,  magnetite,  apatite,  an  abundance 
of  hydrated  oxides  of  iron,  and  water-worn  quartz  peb- 
bles. The  gorgulho  contains  fragments  of  quartz  crys- 
tals, brown  iron,  hydroxide  pebbles,  needle-emerald 
(tourmaline)  and  fragments  of  rutile.  Usually  this  car- 
ries few  diamonds,  but  larger  ones  than  the  more  pro- 
lific upper  parts  of  the  deposits.  The  "  Star  of  the 
South "  was  found  in  a  ferruginous  clay  above  the 
gorgulho.  The  clay-schist  "  secundina "  usually  over- 
lays the  diamondiferous  beds.  It  is  rather  soft  and 
plastic  but  not  easily  disintegrated.  Diamonds  are 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        195 

usually  found  in  any  locality  where  "  estrellada"  occurs. 
Between  its  various  colors  are  white  points  containing 
fragments  of  quartz.  These  give  it  the  starry  effect  for 
which  it  is  named.  It  consists  of  decomposed  stratified 
rocks  reduced  to  a  clay.  Among  its  components  are, 
hornfels,  fragments  of  opal,  and  pebbles  of  augite-por- 
phyry.  The  diamonds  found  in  it  are  usually  small  and 
have  an  appearance  like  bort,  but  cut  to  very  brilliant 
stones. 

Taua  is  similar  to  estrellada,  but  is  composed  of  larger 
fragments  and  the  white  spots  are  absent.  Between  al- 
ternate plates  of  red  or  green  amphibolites  and  decom- 
posed gray  and  yellow  mica-schist,  are  pebbles  of  augite- 
porphyry  and  fragments  of  opaline  chalcedony.  In  the 
red  or  yellow  containing  iron  oxide  and  fragments  of 
quartz,  which  fills  the  spaces  between  the  pebbles,  the 
diamonds  are  found.  Taua  is  the  chief  diamondiferous 
deposit  of  the  Agua  Suja  district  inasmuch  as  it  is  usually 
greater  in  depth  and  carries  more  diamonds,  though  the 
gorgulho  yields  larger  stones.  Being  above  water  level 
it  can  be  worked  more  economically  also. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Bagagem  river  are  shallow  beds 
of  gravel  consisting  largely  of  fragments  of  amphibo- 
lites, quartz  and  hyalo-tourmalines  called  "  grupiaras." 
These  are  diamondiferous  but  have  been  about  exhausted. 
The  river  beds  are  undoubtedly  diamondiferous  but 
their  value  cannot  be  fully  determined  without  machinery 
capable  of  dredging  the  bottoms.  The  deep  pools  and 
depressions  into  which  probably  the  richest  washings  of 
the  torrents  have  been  carried,  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  methods  and  appliances  at  present  in  vogue  through- 
out the  Brazilian  fields.  For  more  than  a  century  the. 


196  THE  DIAMOND 

gravels  of  the  hills  and  river  valleys  and  accessible  places 
in  the  river  bottoms  of  the  Minas  Geraes  diamond  fields 
have  been  worked  for  diamonds,  but  there  yet  remains 
in  the  unworked  portions  of  the  streams  themselves,  the 
greatest  likelihood  of  the  richest  deposits  of  all. 

Scientists  have  thought  that  the  matrix  of  the  diamond 
in  Brazil  is  itacolumite,  a  kind  of  laminated  granular 
quartz  or  ferruginous  quartzose,  and  some  have  claimed 
that  the  sandstone  of  the  Grao  Mogol  district  in  which 
diamonds  have  been  found,  was  the  matrix.  The  dia- 
monds are  found  under  similar  conditions,  and  in  general, 
with  certain  companion  minerals,  throughout  the 
Brazilian  fields,  in  what  might  be  termed  three  tiers  of 
placement :  in  the  heights :  above  the  present  water  levels, 
and  below  the  water  levels  in  the  beds  of  the  streams. 
In  the  heights,  where  they  are  found  in  the  itacolumite, 
the  stones  are  not  as  plentiful,  but  they  average  larger 
in  size,  and  the  edges  of  the  crystals  are  not  as  water- 
worn  as  those  taken  from  the  lower  levels.  On  the  hill- 
sides of  the  river  valleys  they  are  more  numerous,  more 
water-worn,  and  some  of  the  heavier  companion  minerals 
are  not  as  plentiful.  The  sands  and  gravels  of  the 
rivers  yield  even  more  diamonds,  but  they  are  usually 
smaller,  and  are  worn  smoother.  The  minerals  ac- 
companying them  are  of  the  lighter  varieties.  From 
these  facts  it  is  assumed  that  in  the  ancient  upheaval,  the 
diamondiferous  material  was  exuded  through  fissures  in 
the  basic  rocks,  from  which  the  rains  of  ages  washed  the 
lighter  pebbles  to  lower  levels.  From  these  deposits  the 
smaller  stones  were  again  rolled  lower  as  the  water- 
courses cut  deeper  into  the  valleys,  to  the  jiver  beds  of 
the  present,  each  process  being  marked  by  the  increased 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        197 

rounding  of  the  crystal  edges  and  the  diminution  in  size 
and  weight  of  the  pebbles  carried  along  from  stage  to 
stage. 

Although  there  is  a  general  resemblance  between  the 
material  of  the  several  districts  of  Brazil  in  which  dia- 
monds are   found,  it  is  probable  that  the  sources  are 
separate  formations,  as  there  are  distinct  differences  in 
the  number  and  quality  of  the  accompanying  minerals, 
and  the  diamonds  themselves  differ  in  shape  and  char- 
acter.    The  grupiaras  of  the  Pardo  district  are  similar 
to  those  of  the  Diamantina  district  of  Minas  Geraes,  and 
they  each  contain  quartz,  yellow  and  red  fragments  of 
monazite    crystals,    white    and    brown    zircon,    cyanite, 
staurolite,  almandine,  titanite,  magnetite,  and  pyrite,  but 
corundum,  which  is  found  in  no  other  Brazilian  diamond 
field,  occurs  with  the  diamonds  in  the  Pardo  district. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Pardo  fields  are  said  to  contain 
no  anatase,  tourmaline,  hydro-phosphate  or  itacolumite. 
The  diamonds  also,   unlike   those   of  other  fields,    are 
octahedral,   whereas   the  usual    form   of   Brazil   stones 
is     cubic.     In     the     Paraguassu     district,     the     crys- 
tals are  irregular  and  distorted;  in  Minas  Geraes  they 
are  regular  and  cubic;  in  the  Pardo  fields,  regular  and 
octahedral.     The  diamonds  of  the   Paraguassu,   where 
carbons  are  found  with  them,  though  more  brilliant,  are 
not   as   clear  as   those   of   the   Cannavieiras   or    Pardo 
region,  where  carbons  do  not  occur.     There  are  other 
differences.     Bagagem  yields  the  largest  and  best  crys- 
tals.    The  crystals  of  the  Bahia  fields  run  smaller  than 
those  of  Minas  Geraes  and  carry  more  color.     It  is  a 
peculiar  fact  that  many  of  the  colored  Brazilian  crystals 
cut  white,  even  of  those  which  in  the  natural  state  appear 


i98  THE  DIAMOND 

to  be  of  sufficiently  deep  color  to  class  as  fancies.  Some 
of  the  crystals  have  cavities  which  look  like  pumice  stone. 
Surface  impressions  of  other  minerals  in  the  natural 
facets  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  many  of  them  re- 
sembling the  form  of  quartz  crystals.  Stones  that  will 
cut  to  fancy  diamonds  like  those  of  Borneo  and  the 
Dutoitspan  mine  of  the  Kimberley  group,  are  rare. 

Diamonds  of  large  size  are  seldom  found  in  Brazil. 
Few  have  been  found  worthy  of  mention  when  com- 
pared with  the  numerous  large  crystals  of  Africa.  The 
largest  on  record  was  found  in  Minas  Geraes  and 
weighed  254^  carats  or  about  one-twelfth  of  the  weight 
of  the  Cullinan  and  a  little  over  a  quarter  of  the  size  of 
the  Excelsior.  Since,  one  of  138^  carats  was  found 
on  the  Rio  Abaete;  one  of  120^  at  Bagagem  and  one 
of  107  carats  at  Tabacos  on  the  Rio  das  Velhas.  Most 
of  the  crystals  run  from  y^  to  l/2  carat.  Though  pub- 
lished reports  from  the  Brazilian  fields  have  always  been 
untrustworthy,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  smuggling, 
they  give  some  indication  of  general  conditions.  Ac- 
cording to  the  declarations  made,  only  80  stones  of  one 
oitava  ( iJl/2  carats)  and  over,  were  found  in  the  fifty 
years  prior  to  1830.  In  the  best  years  of  Diamantina, 
two  or  three  stones  only  of  16  to  20  carats  each  were 
declared  annually  out  of  ten  thousand. 

The  Pardo  fields  are  said  to  be  very  unhealthy,  but 
in  the  mountains  of  the  Paraguassu  and  Minas  Geraes 
districts,  a  foreigner,  if  careful,  may  escape  the  diseases 
of  the  lower  lands.  J.  C.  Branner  claims  that  the  catinga- 
covered  highlands  of  Bahia,  though  hot,  are  as  healthful 
as  any  in  the  world.  The  richest  fields  of  Bahia  were 
on  the  east  side  of  Serra  do  Sincora  where  the  Paraguassu 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        199 

and  Andarahy  cut  through  the  mountains.  Late  re- 
ports indicate  that  there  are  rich  deposits  yet  farther 
back  in  the  mountains. 

The  general  character  of  the  Brazilian  diamond  fields 
indicate  a  wide  upheaval  of  the  basic  granite  rock  leav- 
ing a  very  rough  and  broken  surface  full  of  huge  gullies 
and  fissures.  In  these  fissures,  and  in  basins  or  depres- 
sions in  the  granite,  are  deposits  of  disintegrated  material 
forming  sandstones  and  conglomerates  of  varying 
hardness,  in  which  the  diamonds  occur.  These  deposits 
have  in  a  large  measure  been  washed  from  the  high 
places  and  again  deposited  in  gullies  and  basins  that 
were  the  water-levels  of  the  streams  ages  ago,  and  parts 
of  these  have  again  been  washed  down  to  the  banks 
and  beds  of  the  streams  which  now  exist.  The  dia- 
monds throughout  are  in  an  altered  material,  and  the 
original  character  of  the  matrix  is  not  surely  known. 
The  indications  are  that  during  a  period  of  disruption 
it  was  exuded  from  the  interior,  since  which  it  has  been 
weathered  and  washed  into  a  conglomerate  of  water- 
worn  fragments,  and  deposited  in  the  process  in  all  the 
fissures,  gullies,  depressions  and  interstices  of  the  sur- 
rounding rocks,  that  lay  in  the  path  of  the  waters  to 
catch  it.  Of  the  pink  Lavras  quartzite  beds  of  the 
Bahia  diamond  fields,  J.  C.  Branner  says  in  the  Engineer- 
ing and  Mining  Journal  of  May  15,  1909,  "Cases  of 
diamonds  in  place  in  these  quartzites  have  been  reported 
to  the  writer,  but  though  he  has  never  personally  seen 
such  specimens,  the  geologic  evidence  is  all  in  favor  of 
the  theory  that  the  diamonds  and  carbonadoes  come  di- 
rectly from  the  Lavras  beds."  He  gives  an  analysis  of 
the  quartzite  by  L.  R.  Lenox  as  follows:  Silica  (SiO2), 


200  THE  DIAMOND 

97.94  per  cent.;  Fe2O3  and  A12O3  1.98;  lime,  none; 
magnesia,  trace;  total  99.92. 

Mr.  Orville  A.  Derby  says  of  the  diamondiferous  beds 
of  the  Paraguassu  district,  "  These  beds,  of  which  the 
thickness  is  estimated  at  more  than  500  meters,  are  pro- 
foundly disturbed,  being  thrown  into  folds  that  may  be 
compared  to  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  are  also  cut 
up  by  faults  with  the  uplift  sides  forming  enormous 
steep-faced  cliffs."  These  folds  produce  a  series  of  out- 
croppings  on  the  mountain  sides  and  dip  now  to  the  east 
and  now  to  the  west.  From  Santa  Isabel  to  Lencoes, 
the  conglomerate  dips  to  the  east,  and  forms  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  range.  Over  the  crest  it  has  a  western  dip 
after  an  interval  which  exposes  a  great  thickness  of  the 
lower  sandstone.  He  says  further,  "  The  points  of 
easiest  attack  thus  far  worked  are  insignificant  in  com- 
parison with  the  masses  of  material  containing  the 
precious  stones  still  untouched." 

All  estimates  of  the  quantity  of  diamonds  mined  in 
Brazil  and  exported  are  little  better  than  guesses.  The 
government  claims  ownership  of  all  mines,  but  is  unable 
to  enforce  the  rights  of  ownership  over  the  wild  and 
difficult  country  in  which  the  diamonds  occur.  It  grants 
concessions,  and  the  district  authorities  impose  and  col- 
lect taxes  where  they  can,  but  both  are  powerless  to 
protect  concessioners  and  licensees  against  the  native 
garimpeiros,  who  not  only  know  the  country,  but  the 
diamondiferous  gravels,  and  are  experts  at  picking  the 
gem  out  of  the  material  in  which  it  is  hidden.  With 
hundreds  of  square  miles  of  broken  country  covered 
with  dense  forest  and  jungle  in  which  to  roam;  their 
only  implements  a  wooden  bowl  in  which  to  wash  the 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL       201 

cascalho  and  a  little  wooden  bottle  to  hold  the  diamonds ; 
undiscoverable  hiding  places  on  every  hand,  these  men 
can  work  any  part  of  a  concessioner's  territory  but  the 
one  spot  in  which  he  has  his  men  working,  without  fear 
of  detection.  There  are  no  means  of  ascertaining  the 
quantity  of  diamonds  obtained  in  this  way.  The  only 
real  statistics  are  the  declarations  made  for  exportation 
and  as  the  government  imposes  an  export  duty,  it  is 
well  known  that  a  part  only  of  the  diamonds  exported 
are  declared.  From  records  made  by  a  mine  owner  in 
Diamantina  in  1906  it  appears  that  the  output  of  that 
district  by  lawful  miners  at  that  time  was  about  5,000 
carats  per  month.  These  were  reported  as  worth  $40 
per  carat,  but  it  is  very  doubtful  if  they  realized  nearly  so 
much.  Rough  to  command  that  price  must  be  very  good 
and  though  many  of  the  diamonds  of  Minas  Geraes  are 
fine,  the  larger  part  are  small  or  of  poor  quality,  so  that 
the  average  value  could  not  exceed  that  of  mines  like 
the  Wesselton  and  Jagersfontein  of  Africa,  for  instance. 
In  that  year  the  value  of  diamonds  and  carbons  together, 
exported  from  Brazil,  according  to  government  statis- 
tics, was  $310,000.  In  1905  it  was  only  $150,000.  In 
1890,  before  the  African  Syndicate  had  forced  up  the 
price  of  diamonds,  the  Minas  Geraes  output  was  said  to 
be  about  1,000  carats  only. 

The  production  of  the  mines  of  Salobro,  Cannavieiras 
district,  for  the  ten  years  ending  1890  was  estimated 
at  193,644  grams.  Although  this  region  is  not  hilly,  it 
is  difficult  to  work,  as  it  is  covered  with  a  dense  forest 
growth,  and  the  diamondiferous  deposit  lies  usually  about 
two  feet  under  the  surface.  The  conglomerate  which 
carries  the  diamonds  outcrops  in  the  beds  of  the  Salobro 


202  THE  DIAMOND 

river  and  its  tributaries,  and  some  think  that  the  whole 
region,  back  to  the  Pardo  and  Jequetinhonha  rivers,  has 
an  understratum  of  the  diamondiferous  deposit.  Sev- 
eral French  and  English  companies  have  worked  these 
Salobro  mines  for  years  at  a  profit. 

Authorities  conflict  regarding  the  output  of  the 
Brazilian  mines  in  the  early  years  after  their  discovery. 
Up  to  1740  estimates  of  the  yearly  production  vary  from 
20,000  to  144,000  carats.  From  1740  to  1772  the 
official  reports  gave  an  average  production  of  about 
52,000  carats  per  annum. 

Then  the  government  began  to  work  the  mines,  much 
after  the  same  methods  pursued  by  the  lessees,  but 
guarding  the  diamondiferous  districts  with  soldiers,  to 
prevent  ingress  or  egress  of  any  not  employed  or 
properly  accredited,  and  to  arrest  smugglers.  The  inhabi- 
tants even  could  not  cross  the  line  without  a  written  per- 
mit, and  everybody  on  leaving  the  diamond  district  was 
searched.  If  a  smuggler  was  caught,  his  property  was 
confiscated  and  he  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  the 
soldier  being  rewarded.  Notwithstanding  the  utmost 
watchfulness,  smuggling  was  practiced  on  a  large  scale, 
probably  with  some  connivance  on  the  part  of  officials, 
and  the  contraband  stones  were  usually  above  the  average 
in  size  and  quality.  The  cost  of  operation  to  the  gov- 
ernment was  excessively  high.  For  several  years  four 
to  five  thousand  negroes  were  employed,  but  the  num- 
ber dwindled  by  1808  to  about  one  thousand.  From 
1772  to  1818,  while  the  mines  were  under  government 
administration,  they  are  said  to  have  yielded  1,298,037 
carats,  the  best  year  being  1784,  with  an  output  of  56,- 
145  carats,  and  the  poorest  1818,  with  a  production  of 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        203 

9,396  carats  only.  In  round  figures,  the  production, 
without  guessing  as  to  the  amount  taken  by  smugglers, 
has  been  estimated  from  the  discovery  to  1818,  as  fol- 
lows: from  the  beginning  to  1740,  240,000  carats. 
From  1740  to  1772,  1,700,000  carats,  and  from  1772  to 
1818,  1,300,000.  In  all  up  to  1818,  3,240,000.  Some 
authorities  place  the  quantity  produced  through  legiti- 
mate channels  up  to  1822  at  a  little  under  three  million 
carats.  The  production,  however,  between  1818  and  1822 
was  small,  having  fallen  to  about  12,000  carats  annually. 

There  appears  to  be  little  definite  knowledge  of  the 
output  from  1818  to  1850,  but  writers  generally  agree 
in  putting  the  entire  product  of  the  Brazilian  mines  up 
to  1850  at  a  little  over  10,000,000  carats,  of  which  some- 
thing over  5,800,000  is  credited  to  the  Minas  Geraes  dis- 
trict, nearly  1,200,000  carats  to  Matto  Grosso,  and  over 
1,200,000  to  Bahia. 

The  discovery  of  very  rich  deposits  in  the  Serra  do 
Sincora,  Bahia,  in  1844,  drew  thousands  to  these  fields 
and  the  neighborhood  of  the  rivers  Paraguassu  and  An- 
darahy,  where  they  cut  through  the  mountains,  was 
worked  so  diligently  that  for  some  time  the  daily  out- 
put averaged  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  hundred  car- 
ats. As  the  exposed  gravels  were  exhausted  and  it  be- 
came more  difficult  to  reach  the  diamondiferous  material, 
the  number  of  workers  dwindled,  and  with  them  the  pro- 
duction. The  Bahia  fields  were  constantly  extended, 
however,  so  that  by  1858  the  production  of  Bahia  was 
54,000  carats  as  against  36,000  carats  for  Minas  Geraes. 

In  1850  and  1851  the  Bahia  yield  was  said  to  be  about 
300,000  carats  per  annum,  but  from  that  time,  the  aver- 
age yearly  production  fell  about  half,  though  it  recovered 


204  THE  DIAMOND 

somewhat  in  the  early  sixties.  From  1850  to  the  dis- 
covery of  diamonds  in  Africa,  the  Brazil  output 
amounted  in  round  figures  probably  to  3,000,000  carats. 
After  that  it  became  an  unimportant  factor  in  the  dia- 
mond market,  though  impetus  has  been  given  to  the  in- 
dustry of  late  years  by  the  high  prices  which  the  London 
Syndicate  established  for  diamond  rough,  and  the  de- 
mand for  carbon,  which  is  found  in  connection  with  the 
diamonds  suitable  for  cutting,  in  Bahia  only.  From  1870 
to  the  present  it  is  doubtful  if  the  entire  Brazilian  dia- 
mond and  carbon  output  much  exceeded  a  yearly  aver- 
age of  100,000  carats. 

The  impetus  given  to  the  industry  by  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  opening  decade  of  the  twentieth  century  is 
indicated  by  the  Consular  reports,  which  give  the  pro- 
duction of  the  State  of  Bahia  as  154,307  carats  in  1906; 
189,949  carats  in  1907  and  298,046  in  1908.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  entire  output  of  the  Bahia  fields  to  the 
end  of  1908  amounts  to  12,351,576  carats. 

When  the  market  was  first  flooded  with  African  dia- 
monds, the  Brazilian  output  dwindled  rapidly.  Not 
only  could  the  African  mines  fully  supply  the  world's 
rapidly  increasing  demand,  but  the  Syndicate  in  London 
controlled  the  channels  of  trade.  The  unhampered  sale 
of  African  rough  in  the  beginning,  rendered  the  Brazilian 
industry,  if  conducted  on  a  large  scale,  unprofitable,  and 
it  is  possible  that  one  reason  for  the  caution  of  the  Syn- 
dicate in  making  their  first  advances  in  price,  was  to 
avoid  encouraging  a  resumption  of  mining  in  Brazil. 
Not  until  late  in  the  nineties,  when  the  price  of  rough 
had  been  doubled,  was  there  a  revival  of  interest  in  the 
Brazilian  fields.  Since  then,  the  good  price  obtainable 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  BRAZIL        205 

for  diamond  rough  and  carbon  has  given  a  stimulus  to 
the  industry,  and  considerable  outside  capital  has  been 
enlisted  in  developing  new  fields  or  working  over  the  old 
ones,  though  some  of  the  new  companies  formed  for 
that  purpose,  in  the  United  States  especially,  have  not  as 
yet  got  much  beyond  enlisting  the  capital.  Withal,  the 
output  of  the  Diamantina  region  is  given  in  consular  re- 
ports as  averaging  about  5,000  carats  per  month  only 
during  1906. 


CHAPTER  X 

DIAMOND     MINING     IN     AUSTRALIA,     BORNEO,     CHINA, 

GUIANA,   RUSSIA,  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

AND   DIAMONDS    FOUND   IN 

METEORITES 

IN  the  middle  eighties,  a  Mr.  Gilkes,  while  prospect- 
ing for  gold  in  the  interior  of  British  Guiana,  found 
a  diamond.  At  that  time  the  enormous  development  of 
the  diamond  mines  of  Africa  from  the  chance  finding  of 
a  single  stone,  had  already  attracted  universal  attention 
and  prospectors  were  not  slow  to  follow  any  similar 
lead.  The  gold  prospector  at  once  became  a  diamond 
seeker,  and  in  a  short  time  obtained  quite  a  number  of 
small  stones.  No  large  stone  or  great  quantity  was  ob- 
tained, and  probably  for  that  reason  systematic  digging 
with  the  assistance  of  capital  was  not  begun  until  early 
in  1900,  when  "  the  British  Guiana  Diamond  Syndicate  " 
obtained  a  concession  of  2000  acres  and  commenced  op- 
erations on  the  Putareng  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Maza- 
runi  river.  Later  the  Mazaruni  Company  obtained  a 
concession  of  5,858  acres  in  the  district  and  is  still  in  oper- 
ation. Since  then,  a  number  of  small  companies,  one  of 
them  American,  operating  on  Nimbo  Para  creek,  Maza- 
runi river,  have  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  digging 
for  diamonds  in  that  district.  There  were  27  companies 
working  in  these  fields  in  1903,  only  14  of  whom  re- 
ported over  100  stones. 

The  fields  lie  north  of  the  Cordilleras  of  Parima,  which 

206 


DIAMOND  MINING  207 

at  an  average  altitude  of  4,000  feet,  divide  the  rivers  of 
the  north  coast  line  countries  of  South  America  from  the 
great  basin  of  the  Amazon,  south  of  which  are  the  dia- 
mond fields  of  Bahia,  Brazil.  The  diamonds  are  found 
in  a  somewhat  remote  part  of  Demarara.  The  route 
from  Georgetown  is  up  the  coast  about  20  miles  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Essequibo  river;  up  the  river  about  50 
miles  to  Bartica,  and  thence  by  small  boats,  which  must 
be  carried  around  numerous  falls,  up  the  Mazaruni 
river  to  San-San- Kopai  landing.  This  latter  part  of  the 
journey  consumes  usually  14  days,  the  distance  being  be- 
tween 90  and  100  miles.  The  diamondiferous  area  lies 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mazaruni  river,  between  two  of 
its  tributaries,  the  Putareng  creek,  and  a  river  which 
Alfred  de  Andrade,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  fields, 
calls  the  Puruni  river.  Diamonds  have  been  found  also 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Curibrong  river  near  its  junction 
with  the  Potari  river. 

The  diamond-bearing  gravel  occurs  usually  under  an 
overburden  of  gray  sandy  soil  and  rests  on  a  clayey  sub- 
soil. The  crystals  are  found  chiefly  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  gravel  and  sticking  in  the  upper  part  of  the  clay, 
associated  with  jasper  and  other  siliceous  pebbles.  The 
diamonds  are  usually  of  good  quality  but  very  small. 
Most  of  them  run  about  15  to  the  carat.  Stones  of 
three-quarters  of  a  carat  and  over  are  extremely  rare, 
and  none  of  importance  have  yet  been  registered  from 
these  fields.  An  early  report  of  a  day's  work  on  a  prom- 
ising deposit,  by  one  of  the  companies  with  a  working 
force  of  18  men,  gave  22  cubic  yards  of  ground  han- 
dled, yielding  90  diamonds  which  weighed  5.7  carats. 
In  the  year  ending  June  30,  1902,  132,077  stones  were 


208  THE  DIAMOND 

declared;  1,414  from  the  Potari  and  other  districts,  the 
balance  from  the  Mazaruni  district.  In  1902-3  the  en- 
tire district  registered  at  the  Department  of  Lands  and 
Mines,  163,680  diamonds  weighing  10,446  carats.  They 
were  mostly  marketed  in  London  at  $6.00  to  $10.00  per 
carat.  In  1903-4  the  yield  was  about  the  same;  164,315 
diamonds  weighing  10,742  carats.  Later  reports  show 
a  falling  off.  In  the  calendar  year  1905,  only  86,096 
stones  weighing  5,315  carats  were  produced.  Shipments 
in  1907  were  2,220  carats  valued  at  $17,550  and  in  1908, 
4,968  carats  valued  at  $40,872,  but  the  indications  are 
that  the  companies  do  not  find  it  sufficiently  remunerative 
to  prosecute  the  work  with  much  vigor.  The  fiscal  year 
of  1908-9  shows  improvement;  56,982  stones  weighing 
5,189  carats  were  reported.  Some  believe  that  persist- 
ent development  with  sufficient  outlay  to  place  the  fields 
in  better  communication  with  the  outside  world,  would 
pay  eventually,  but  with  the  meager  results  hitherto,  and 
the  lack  of  encouragement  which  an  occasional  find  of  a 
large  stone  would  give,  capital  does  not  seem  inclined  to 
take  further  risks.  Machinery  has  been  introduced  of 
late  years,  but  the  cost  of  transportation  is  very  high, 
and  with  alluvial  deposits,  unless  they  are  very  rich 
and  so  situated  that  the  machinery  can  be  installed  and 
moved  without  great  expense,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  use 
of  it  pays  as  well  as  the  old  methods.  In  the  old  way 
of  working  claims,  one  man  shoveled  the  gravel  and 
clay  into  a  wheelbarrow;  four  men  wheeled  it  to  the 
place  where  the  stuff  was  worked.  There,  two  men 
melted  it  in  a  "  tarn  " ;  two  cradled  it ;  two  jagged  the 
sieves,  and  two  or  three  worked  at  the  sorting  table  where 
the  gravel  was  searched.  It  was  practically  the  same 


DIAMOND  MINING  209 

method  employed  in  other  countries  with  similar  depos- 
its, and  though  crude,  had  the  advantage  of  being  inex- 
pensive, and  the  plant  could  follow  the  finds  without  loss 
of  time  or  at  great  cost. 

A  new  deposit  has  been  discovered  about  115  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Guyana  river,  near  the  Dukwarri 
cataract.  The  stones,  like  all  other  Guiana  diamonds, 
are  small. 

Diamonds  have  been  found  also  in  the  central  part 
of  Dutch  Guiana  in  the  Mindreneti  district,  between  the 
Surinam  and  Saramaca  rivers,  but  nothing  of  impor- 
tance has  been  reported.  All  these  are  alluvial  deposits, 
apparently  very  shallow  and  similar  to  those  distributed 
among  the  streams  of  Bahia.  The  latter  district  is  not 
noted  for  large  stones,  but  those  of  the  Guiana  fields 
are  yet  smaller  and  less  abundant. 

Diamonds  are  found  in  Shantung,  China.  About  10 
li  (4  miles)  east  of  the  market  town  of  Li  Chia  Chuang, 
is  a  low,  sandy  ridge,  extending  south  and  parallel  with 
Ching  P'u,  the  main  road  south,  after  it  crosses  the  I  Sui 
river  about  18  miles  southeast  of  Chefoo.  The  dia- 
monds are  found  along  this  ridge  for  a  distance  of  fully 
8  miles.  The  natives  will  only  look  for  them  after 
rains,  because  they  believe  the  rains  bring  them,  quite 
oblivious  of  the  fact  that  the  washing  of  the  sands  by 
the  falling  rain  discovers  them.  They  cannot  be  per- 
suaded to  dig  and  wash  the  sand. 

The  stones  are  nearly  all  quite  small.  Occasionally, 
one  as  large  as  a  pea  or  a  hazel  nut  is  picked  up.  The 
usual  method  of  the  farmers  is  to  walk  back  and  forth 
over  the  water-washed  sands  with  sabots  of  rye-straw, 
which  pick  up  the  sharp-pointed  crystals.  The  sabots 

14 


210  THE  DIAMOND 

are  then  burned  and  the  ashes  sieved  for  the  diamonds. 
The  larger  ones  are  picked  up  from  the  ground  when  seen 
during  the  tramp.  Many  of  them  are  broken  or  splin- 
tered crystals,  and  as  they  are  used  chiefly  for  drill  points, 
most  of  the  unbroken  crystals  are  broken  up  later  for 
that  purpose.  A  few  are  sold  for  gem  purposes.  Some 
of  them  are  white,  but  a  large  majority  are  yellow  or 
brownish-yellow. 

The  finders  obtain  a  good  price  for  the  stones,  as  buy- 
ers visit  the  place  regularly  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year 
and  usually  carry  away  the  entire  output.  The  quantity 
obtained  is  unknown,  but  the  output  of  stones  suitable 
for  cutting  to  jewels  is  inconsiderable. 

Australia  produces  a  few  diamonds,  usually  quite  small 
and  of  inferior  quality  as  gems,  though  they  have  the  rep- 
utation of  being  the  hardest  of  any.  Cutters  say  they 
can  be  cut  only  with  their  own  powder.  In  hardness, 
average  of  size,  and  tendency,  when  colored,  to  great 
depth  of  color,  they  resemble  the  diamonds  of  Borneo. 
The  crystals  seldom  weigh  over  one-quarter  of  a  carat, 
though  a  few  run  up  to  three-quarters  of  a  carat;  occa- 
sionally one  is  found  weighing  upwards  of  one  carat, 
and  several  have  been  reported  since  the  first  discovery, 
which  weighed  between  five  and  six  carats  each.  At 
Bingara  they  ran  about  five  to  the  carat,  and  fifty  per 
cent,  were  straw  colored.  They  are  found  usually  in 
the  gold  and  tin  washings.  Almost  the  entire  product 
comes  from  New  South  Wales,  however,  which  is  not 
nearly  as  rich  in  gold  as  Victoria,  where  few  diamonds 
are  found. 

The  discovery  of  diamonds  was  first  reported  from 
Reedy  creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Macquarie  river,  near 


DIAMOND  MINING  211 

Bathurst,  in  New  South  Wales.  The  same  year  another 
was  obtained  near  the  Turon  river.  From  that  time, 
the  attention  of  the  gold  diggers  being  drawn  to  the  fact 
that  diamonds  existed  in  the  gravels  thereabouts,  others 
were  found  occasionally  in  the  neighborhood  of  all  the 
streams  emptying  into  the  Macquarie  as  far  north  and 
west  as  the  Cudgegong  river,  the  earliest  coming  from 
the  Calabash  and  Pyramul  creeks.  In  September,  1859, 
several  were  found  at  Suttor's  Bar  on  the  Macquarie 
river,  and  another  in  October  at  Burrendong.  These 
discoveries  awakened  considerable  interest,  but  not  suf- 
ficient for  several  years  to  enlist  capital  for  an  organ- 
ized search  for  diamonds.  Systematic  work  was  begun 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Mudgee  on  the  Cudgegong  in 
1869  by  "  the  Australian  Diamond  Mines  Company  "  of 
Melbourne,  but  the  results  were  not  satisfactory.  In 
the  first  five  months'  systematic  washing  in  the  Cudge- 
gong district,  2,500  diamonds  were  found,  one  weighing 
5^  carats.  They  were  mostly  colorless,  though  straw, 
brown,  black,  and  a  dark  green  which  looked  as  though 
it  had  been  polished  with  black  lead,  were  among  them. 
In  addition  to  the  fields-  near  the  tributaries  of  the 
Macquarie  from  Oberon  to  Wellington,  one  was  discov- 
ered to  the  southwest  near  the  Lachlan  river.  In  the 
early  seventies,  considerable  work  was  done  in  the  Bin- 
gara  fields  on  the  river  Horton,  a  tributary  of  the  Gwy- 
dir  river,  to  the  northeast  of  the  Macquarie,  and  since 
then  and  now,  in  the  Inverell  district,  a  little  further 
north.  Inverell  is  situated  a  few  miles  north  of  Bingara 
and  the  junction  of  Copes  Creek  and  the  Gwydir.  "  The 
Star  of  the  South  "  mine,  in  the  Inverell  district,  is  on 
a  hill  of  basalt  in  which  shafts  are  sunk  to  the  dia- 


212  THE  DIAMOND 

mondiferous  gravel.  Reports  have  been  made  at  various 
times  of  exceptionally  rich  washings  from  these  districts. 
Prospectors  found  551  diamonds  in  one  load  of  wash  in 
1895.  But  the  average  bears  no  comparison  with  the 
yield  of  the  African  mines.  At  present,  most  of  the 
Australian  diamonds  come  from  the  Gwydir  river  and 
tributaries,  near  Inverell.  A  London  company,  "  The 
Inverell  Diamond  Fields  Limited,"  was  formed  in  1897, 
to  operate  in  this  district.  The  mine  closed  in  1900  with 
a  total  product  of  37,400  carats  and  39  tons  of  stream 
tin.  They  are  found  also  along  Shoalhaven  river  near 
the  east  coast.  The  first  washing  of  the  Elliott  Diamond 
and  Tin  Mining  Company,  operating  near  Inverell,  pro- 
duced 3  carats  of  diamonds  to  the  load  and  40  Ibs. 
stream  tin.. 

In  Queensland,  diamonds  have  been  found  along  the 
Palmer  and  Gilbert  rivers;  they  occur  also  at  Echunga, 
20  miles  southeast  of  Adelaide,  Australia.  Early  in 
1907  some  were  reported  from  that  district,  ranging  from 
one  to  five  carats  each.  In  1862,  some  were  found  in 
the  gold  fields  of  the  Beechworth  district  in  Victoria, 
and  they  occur  near  Freemantle  in  West  Australia.  A 
diamond  found  at  Coriona  in  Tasmania  in  1894  created 
considerable  excitement,  but  the  diggers  who  flocked 
there,  failed  to  open  up  a  new  diamond  field.  Another 
was  reported  by  W.  H.  Twelvetrees,  the  Government 
Geologist,  in  1906,  who  with  his  report  said  that  the 
ultra-basic  rocks  and  the  presence  of  ancient  carbona- 
ceous shale,  indicated  a  possibility  of  diamondiferous 
material  being  found  in  the  district.  This  diamond,  a 
bright  octahedral  crystal,  weighing  one-eighth  of  a  carat, 
was  found  at  Long  Plains  on  the  west  coast.  When  ex- 


DIAMOND  MINING  213 

posed  to  bromide  of  radium  it  glowed  and  became  lu- 
minous in  the  dark.  It  showed  a  faint  greenish-yellow 
tint  at  its  terminations. 

Some  idea  of  the  size  and  quality  of  Australian  dia- 
monds may  be  had  from  the  estimate  of  the  production 
of  New  South  Wales,  from  whence  most  of  them  come, 
up  to  the  end  of  1901,  which  was  109,425  carats  valued 
at  $326,455,  or  a  carat  value  of  about  half  that  of  the 
Kimberley  diamonds  at  the  time  of  the  De  Beers  Con- 
solidation, before  the  London  Syndicate  began  to  ad- 
vance the  price.  The  yield  of  1902  is  estimated  at  $48,- 
780.  The  production  of  1906  is  estimated  at  2,251  car- 
ats, worth  £1,992,  and  of  1907  at  2,539  carats  valued  at 
£2,056. 

The  diamonds  are  found  in  an  alluvial  deposit  of 
gravel  overlain  usually  by  a  basaltic  flow.  The  deposits 
are  near  the  present  beds  of  streams,  but  are  frequently 
at  an  elevation  of  some  feet  above  the  banks.  Accord- 
ing to  Llewellyn  Parker,  the  country  rock  under  the 
gravel  consists  of  carboniferous  clay  stones  and  tuffs, 
resting  on  granite.  Doleritic  dykes  break  through  the 
granite  and  the  leads  lie  above  them  and  beneath  the  ba- 
saltic flow.  A  small  diamond  enclosed  in  a  piece  of  rock 
was  found  in  one  of  these  dykes,  about  ten  feet  below  the 
gravel  layer.  Five  feet  of  the  upper  part  of  the  dyke 
was  decomposed  into  a  soft  yellow  earth.  Below,  it  was 
a  hard,  bluish-green,  coarsely  crystalline  dolerite.  An- 
other diamond  was  found  under  similar  conditions,  and 
much  interest  in  the  matter  was  aroused  among  scien- 
tists, who  thought  it  might  afford  a  clew  to  the  matrix  of 
the  diamonds.  Four  in  all  were  found  in  a  rock  matrix, 
but  a  further  examination  of  nearly  90  tons  of  the  rock 


2i4  THE  DIAMOND 

yielded  no  more.  As  in  West  Australia,  some  of  the 
diamonds,  according  to  Prof.  David,  occur  in  very  an- 
cient gravels  now  consolidated  into  conglomerates.  The 
loose  gravels  are  of  a  much  later  age. 

The  crystals  are  chiefly  octahedrons,  though  dodeca- 
hedrons and  similar  forms  occur  also.  They  are  of 
various  colors,  white,  yellow,  brown,  black,  and  one 
twinned  crystal  of  a  dark  green  was  discovered. 

Diamonds  similar  to  those  of  Australia  are  found  in 
Borneo.  They  run  small,  are  very  hard  and  many  of 
them  are  colored.  The  fields  have  undoubtedly  been 
worked  for  centuries,  as  the  Dutch  on  their  first  arrival 
there  found  mining  operations  being  regularly  carried 
on  and  ancient  native  gems  are  in  the  possession  of  the 
princes.  The  rajahs  of  Panembohan  and  Pongerans 
possess  a  large  belt  studded  with  diamonds,  one  of  them 
weighing  67  carats.  It  is  difficult  to  make  a  reliable  es- 
timate of  the  quantity  produced.  The  natives  regard  the 
gold  and  diamonds  as  a  kind  of  natural  bank  provided 
to  be  drawn  on  at  pleasure.  The  native  princes  claim 
all  stones  over  five  carats  at  a  fixed  price.  Undoubtedly 
they  do  not  get  them  all,  but  naturally  there  is  less  public 
knowledge  of  the  contraband  stones  than  of  those  taken 
by  the  princes,  and  of  them  it  is  known  only  that  the 
overlords  have  them  in  their  treasuries.  As  far  as  rec- 
ords go,  it  appears  that  the  production  during  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  averaged  about  5,000  car- 
ats per  annum,  and  it  is  thought  to  be  about  the  same 
now,  though  it  is  probably  less,  as  mining  operations 
have  little  encouragement. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  the  yield  was  probably  much 
greater,  for  the  fields  of  Borneo  are  mentioned,  with 


DIAMOND  MINING  215 

those  of  India,  as  important,  in  books  published  in  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  it  was  estimated 
that  the  production  amounted  at  times  to  several  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  upwards  of  two  million  dollars  in 
value  per  annum.  Evidences  remain  that  numerous 
claims  were  worked,  but  as  in  India,  the  diamondiferous 
material  is  an  alluvial  deposit,  and  as  these  long  known 
deposits  have  been  worked  for  ages  and  no  new  discov- 
eries made,  they  are  nearly  exhausted.  A  point  was 
reached  some  time  ago  where  the  cutters  of  Borneo 
could  buy  diamonds  from  Australia  and  the  Cape  for  less 
money  than  the  natives  could  dig  them  in  the  home  coun- 
try, and  to-day  most  of  the  diamonds  cut  in  Borneo  are 
imported  from  those  countries.  About  16,000  carats, 
worth  $200,000,  are  imported  from  Africa  annually. 

Borneo  cuts  for  Java,  Singapore  and  Siam,  sending 
the  white  stones  to  the  latter  countries  and  the  yellow 
and  colored  ones  to  Java. 

The  principal  diamond  fields  of  Borneo  are  situated 
in  the  Landak  district  near  Pontianak,  the  capital  of 
Dutch  Borneo,  on  the  west  coast,  and  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Martapura  on  the  south  coast  to  the  east  of  the 
island.  They  are  found  also  along  the  Sarawak  river 
north  of  the  Pontianak  or  Landak  district,  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  island,  on  the  rivers  Sikajam  and 
Meran  in  the  same  section,  and  at  Kusan  on  the  eastern 
side.  In  1904  some  excitement  in  the  diamond  trade  of 
London  was  produced  by  the  announcement  that  an  en- 
gineer in  the  employment  of  the  British  North  Borneo 
Company  had  discovered  in  that  part  of  the  island  a  clay 
or  rock  similar  to  the  kimberlite  of  the  African  chim- 
neys. His  report  of  the  occurrence  there  of  material 


2i 6  THE  DIAMOND 

of  that  character  has  been  since  verified,  but  no  discovery 
of  diamonds  in  it  has  been  reported. 

As  in  all  other  alluvial  deposits,  the  diamonds  are  ac- 
companied by  pebbles  of  a  siliceous  nature  and  also  by  a 
form  of  blue  or  bluish-gray  corundum  which  is  regarded 
by  the  natives  as  a  sure  indication  of  the  presence  of  dia- 
monds. This  companion  of  the  "  Prince,"  as  the  dia- 
mond is  termed,  is  known  as  Ba  tu  timahan.  It  is  not 
of  a  quality  to  cut  for  jewels,  and  was  long  thought  to 
be  a  form  of  quartz.  Like  the  black  tourmaline  or 
"  jetstone  "  of  the  Bingara  fields  of  Australia,  its  chief 
value  in  the  eyes  of  the  miners  is  that  it  assures  them  of 
the  presence  of  the  more  precious  gem. 

Mining  is  carried  on  by  Malays  and  Chinese,  the  lat- 
ter being  skillful  and  economical  miners.  A  French  com- 
pany secured  a  25-year  concession  in  1882  to  work  a  tract 
of  about  5,000  acres  near  Tjampaka  in  the  Tanahlaut  or 
Martapura  district,  but  work  was  discontinued  in  about  a 
year  after  operations  began.  Apparently,  the  deposits 
are  not  sufficiently  rich  and  the  location  of  paying  dia- 
mondiferous  material  too  uncertain,  to  warrant  risking 
the  expense  of  a  thoroughly  equipped  mining  organiza- 
tion. Even  the  skill  and  economy  of  the  Chinese  fail 
at  times  to  win  enough  to  hold  them  to  the  work,  and 
the  diamond  diggings  are  deserted  for  the  neighboring 
goldfields,  from  which  returns  are  more  sure.  At  times, 
however,  there  is  great  activity.  In  a  few  weeks  of 
1905,  1,278  licenses  were  taken  out  in  Martapura. 

Most  of  the  crystals  are  octahedrons  and  dodecahe- 
drons. The  natives  call  the  former  "  perfect  stones,"  and 
simply  polish  the  native  facets;  when  the  angles  are 
sharp  and  the  facets  bright,  they  are  called  "  intan  men- 


DIAMOND  MINING  217 

jadi  "  and  are  worn  as  found.  Diamond  cutting  is  done 
at  Pontianak,  Martapura  and  elsewhere.  The  art  has 
been  practiced  in  Borneo  for  centuries.  There  are  two 
shops  in  Martapura,  one  employing  270  and  the  other 
about  150  workmen.  Besides  these  about  300  polishers 
and  1 60  cleavers  work  independently.  They  are  paid 
about  fifty  cents  per  carat  for  cutting  .brilliants,  and  about 
thirty-five  cents  for  cutting  roses.  There  are  diamond- 
cutting  establishments  in  Pagattam  and  Toenggoel  also. 

The  diamonds  are  found  in  the  beds  of  the  streams 
of  to-day,  and  also  in  the  gravels  of  watercourses  long 
since  covered  up.  The  miners  sink  shafts  through  the 
overburden  and  tunnel  into  the  diamondiferous  material 
in  crude  fashion,  hoisting  the  gravel  to  the  surface  and 
washing  it  in  about  the  same  way  as  all  others  do  who 
work  in  alluvial  deposits.  The  Malays  wash  in  a  small 
bowl  and  show  remarkable  skill  and  keen  vision,  picking 
out  with  unerring  rapidity  diamonds  so  small  as  to  escape 
entirely  the  observation  of  a  European.  The  Malays 
mine  and  cut  in  the  crude  Oriental  ways  of  ancient  times, 
but  the  Chinese  adopt  some  modern  methods  in  their  min- 
ing operations.  The  cutting  is  done  by  natives. 

The  deposits  of  the  Landak  district  are  older  than 
those  of  the  southeastern  section  around  Martapura,  but 
all  the  fields  alike  are  remarkable  for  the  number  of 
stones  of  deep  color  they  afford.  Borneo  has  produced 
more  diamonds,  proportionately,  of  rare  colors  than  any 
other  country;  red,  green,  black  and  deep  rich  brown. 
According  to  Dr.  Theodor  Posewitz,  a  mining  engineer 
who  resided  in  Borneo  for  some  years,  as  given  by  E.  W. 
Streeter  in  his  work  on  Precious  Stones,  the  natives 
have  names  by  which  they  designate  the  most  important. 


218  THE  DIAMOND 

A  red  diamond,  which  is  very  rare,  is  called  "  Radja 
intan "  or  King  of  Diamonds ;  bottle-green  diamonds, 
also  rare  and  valuable,  are  "Intan  Katja  hitam";  pale 
blue  or  sea-water  diamonds  are  "  Intan-ajer-Lant,"  and 
"  Intan  minjak "  is  the  name  given  to  brown  stones. 
"  Chaping  "  are  flat  twin  crystals.  Uncut  diamonds  are 
called  "  podi "  and  when  cut  they  are  "  intan."  Some 
fine  colored  diamonds  have  been  found  in  the  Sarawak 
and  other  rivers,  but  they  can  only  be  worked  in  dry  sea- 
sons. A  round,  rolled  crystal,  of  good  color,  containing 
a  dark  core,  is  sometimes  found,  which  the  natives  do 
not  attempt  to  cut,  but  wear  it  in  its  natural  state  as  an 
amulet.  They  call  it  "  Buntat  intan/'  or  "  Soul  of  the 
diamond."  When  this  is  found  in  a  digging,  the  digger 
moves  on.  He  regards  it  as  a  sure  sign  that  there  are 
no  other  diamonds  near.  He  also  has  faith  that  if  he 
wears  the  Buntat  intan  suspended  from  his  neck,  it  will 
bring  him  good  luck  in  his  search  further. 

As  in  Australia,  the  diamondiferous  deposits  lie  at  a 
considerable  elevation  above  the  present  watercourses, 
though  they  are  all  near  the  banks  of  some  river. 

July  5,  1829,  when  Humboldt  and  Rose  were  on  their 
journey  to  Siberia,  the  first  European  diamond  is  said 
to  have  been  found  in  the  district  of  Hiitte  Bisersk,  in 
the  Urals,  Russia,  by  Count  Polier.  It  was  found 
in  gold-washings  on  the  estate  of  his  wife,  Prin- 
cess Shachovskoi.  Humboldt  was  convinced  by  the 
similarity  between  the  gold  and  platinum  deposits 
of  that  country  and  those  of  Brazil,  that  diamonds 
existed  there,  and  practically  staked  his  reputation  for 
sound  judgment  in  the  matter,  by  assuring  the  Czar- 


DIAMOND  MINING  219 

ina  when  starting  on  the  expedition  he  was  about 
to  make  at  the  request  of  the  Czar  Nicholas,  that  he 
would  certainly  bring  Russian  diamonds  back  with 
him  from  the  Uralian  deposits.  Though  he  had  the 
enthusiastic  assistance  of  Count  Polier,  Humboldt  met 
with  little  success,  and  some  Russians  of  the  neigh- 
borhood have  hinted  that  the  diamond  he  brought  back 
was  placed  there  to  be  found  for  him.  No  proof  of 
fraud  exists,  however,  and  as  diamonds  have  undoubtedly 
been  found  throughout  that  section  since,  and  Russian 
mineralogists,  after  carefully  looking  into  the  matter, 
were  of  the  opinion  that  the  discovery  was  genuine,  he 
may  be  said  to  have  proved  his  assertion. 

This  first  diamond  was  found  in  a  small  gold-washing 
of  Adolphskoi,  on  a  stream  connected  with  the  Polud- 
enka,  a  head-stream  of  the  Kovia,  which  by  way  of  an- 
other tributary  flows  into  the  Kama  river.  During  the 
next  five  years,  about  50  small  diamonds  were  found,  of 
which  the  largest  weighed  under  three  carats.  Search 
has  been  made  constantly  in  the  gold-washings  through- 
out the  Ural  mountains  from  that  time  to  the  present, 
and  probably  200  stones  in  all  have  been  found.  Small 
crystals,  of  scientific  interest  only,  have  been  picked  up 
from  time  to  time  over  a  wide  range  south  to  the  gold- 
washings  of  Katshkar.  With  few  variations,  the  min- 
erals usually  associated  with  diamonds,  occur  with  them 
here  also,  i.  e.,  garnet,  quartz,  zircon,  topaz,  rutile,  mag- 
netite, cassiterite,  epidote,  etc. 

There  has  been  much  scientific  speculation  as  to  the 
rock  from  which  they  were  derived,  but  as  the  diamonds 
have  been  all  found  in  sands,  no  undisputed  conclusion 


220  THE  DIAMOND 

has  been  reached.  The  mountain  ridges  above  the 
streams  are  described  as  quartzose  chloritic  talcschist, 
and  the  sands  lie  on  a  bed  of  dolomite. 

A  few  microscopic  diamonds  have  been  found  in  Rus- 
sian Lapland  in  the  valley  of  the  Pasvig  river.  Gneiss 
is  the  bed-rock,  and  the  associate  minerals  are  with  one 
or  two  variations  the  same  as  in  India  and  Brazil. 

A  few  diamonds  have  been  found  in  the  Sierra  Madre, 
southwest  of  Acapulco  in  Mexico,  and  one  was  found  in 
sand  with  Pyropes  at  Dlascekowitz,  in  Bohemia.  A  re- 
port of  one  discovered  in  Ireland  was  not  authenticated. 

There  is  a  Jesuit  tradition  that  diamonds  have  been 
found  on  Jesuit  lands  in  the  district  of  Tena,  30  miles 
from  Bogota,  Colombia,  but  several  years'  search  has 
failed  to  discover  any. 

Strata  of  clay  said  to  be  similar  to  kimberlite  exists 
in  the  State  of  Trujillo,  Venezuela,  and  a  concession  was 
obtained  from  the  government  some  years  ago  to  work 
them  for  diamonds,  but  none  were  found. 

A  few  diamonds  have  been  found  at  various  times  in 
the  United  States,  but  until  the  discovery  of  what  is 
thought  to  be  a  diamond  chimney  like  those  of  Africa, 
in  Pike  County,  Arkansas,  in  1906,  the  fields  gave  no 
promise  of  others,  sufficient  to  induce  prospecting  for 
more.  Single  stones  have  been  picked  up  at  long  inter- 
vals, chiefly  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Appalachians, 
in  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and 
Alabama.  Most  of  them  have  been  found,  associated 
with  gold,  in  the  Carolinas,  though  the  largest,  weighing 
23%  carats,  was  found  by  a  laborer  while  working  in 
an  excavation  in  a  street  of  Manchester,  Virginia,  in 
1855.  This  crystal  was  an  octahedron  with  rounded 


DIAMOND  MINING  221 

edges.  It  was  cut  to  n  11/16  carats,  and  though  poor 
in  color  and  badly  flawed,  brought  a  large  price;  very 
much  more  than  it  was  worth.  It  was  known  after- 
wards as  the  "  Dewey  "  diamond.  No  diamond  as  large 
has  since  been  found  in  the  States. 

The  diamonds  found  in  this  section  of  the  country 
have  been  taken  from  detrital  matter,  derived  evidently 
from  the  weathering  of  the  crystalline-silicate  rocks 
which  constitute  the  surrounding  mountains.  The  grav- 
els contain  minerals  similar  to  those  associated  with  dia- 
monds in  alluvial  deposits  elsewhere,  viz.,  garnet,  zircon, 
gold,  magnetite  and  anatase,  and  some  monazite,  a  rare 
mineral  generally  met  with  in  the  Brazil  fields.  The 
flexible  sandstone,  itacolumite,  thought  by  some  to  be 
the  matrix  of  the  diamonds  of  Brazil,  is  also  found  with 
gold  in  the  neighborhood  of  places  in  the  Carolinas  where 
diamonds  have  been  found,  though  no  report  has  been 
made  of  a  diamond  being  found  in  it.  The  crystals  are 
mostly  octahedra  and,  excepting  the  Dewey,  the  largest, 
found  in  1886,  weighed  4^/2  carats.  The  first  diamond 
found  in  North  Carolina  came  from  Brindletown  Creek, 
Burke  county,  in  1843. 

A  few  stones  have  been  found  in  superficial  deposits 
in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  but  without  indications  of 
the  source  from  whence  they  came.  Work  has  been 
done  on  the  peridotite  dike  at  Ison  creek  in  Elliot 
county,  and  other  similar  dikes  in  northeastern  Ken- 
tucky have  been  prospected  without  success. 

The  path  of  the  glacial  drift  through  Wisconsin,  Mich- 
igan, Indiana  and  Ohio,  has  afforded  quite  a  number  of 
diamonds.  Most  of  them  were  found  in  Wisconsin. 
It  is  supposed  that  they  were  brought  down  from  Can- 


222  THE  DIAMOND 

ada  by  the  ice,  and  in  1899,  Professor  W.  H.  Hobbs, 
after  a  careful  study  of  the  glacial  striae  leading  to  the 
localities  where  the  diamonds  were  found,  surmised 
that  they  came  from  somewhere  near  James  Bay  on 
Hudson  Bay.  In  1876  a  yellow  diamond  and  some  oth- 
ers were  reported  as  found  near  Eagle  in  Waukesha 
county.  In  1886  a  pale  yellow  irregular  rhombic  dodec- 
ahedron weighing  21*4  carats  was  found  at  Kohlsville 
in  Washington  county,  and  in  1896  a  diamond  of  over 
6  carats  was  reported  as  having  been  found  at  Saukville 
in  Ozukee  county  in  1880.  In  1893  one  of  3^  carats 
was  found  at  Oregon,  Dane  county,  in  clay.  Another, 
found  in  southern  Wisconsin,  which  weighed  over  16 
carats,  is  now  in  the  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  collection. 

Several  diamonds  have  been  found  at  various  times 
in  Morgan  county,  Indiana,  for  one  of  which  $1,200 
was  offered  according  to  report.  The  amount  repre- 
sented local  sentiment,  however,  as  the  stone  was  not 
worth  nearly  as  much.  Most  of  these  stones  were  found 
while  cleaning  up  gold-washings.  The  first  diamond 
found  in  America  was  found  in  Indiana  in  1837.  It  is 
a  white  stone  and  cut  as  a  jewel,  weighs  about  2  carats. 
It  is  claimed  that  diamonds  with  other  precious  stones 
have  been  found  in  the  hills  of  Brown  county  within  40 
miles  of  Indianapolis. 

Diamonds  have  been  found  occasionally  in  the  gold 
placer  and  platinum  mines  of  California  since  1850, 
most  of  them  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fiddletown  and 
Volcano  in  Amador  county.  They  have  been  found  also 
in  Butte,  El  Dorado,  Nevada  and  Trinity  counties.  The 
first  of  which  there  is  a  good  record,  came  from  the 


DIAMOND  MINING  213 

Cherokee  district,  Butte  county,  in  1853.  During  the  last 
ten  years  there  have  been  numerous  reports  of  "  finds  " 
which  have  been  more  fruitful  of  stock  companies  than 
diamonds  and  the  "  kimberlite "  which  South  African 
experts  have  been  called  in  to  vouch  for,  has,  in  some 
cases  certainly,  proved  to  be  a  very  different  material 
from  the  South  African  peridotite,  so  named. 

Diamonds  have  been  reported  from  Idaho  and  Mon- 
tana, and  one  brown  crystal  which  weighed  one  carat, 
from  Philadelphos,  Arizona.  Much  excitement  and 
some  legislation  was  secured  by  the  discovery  of  diamonds 
and  rubies  in  Arizona  a  few  years  back.  The  discov- 
erers had  first  salted  the  ground  very  liberally  with  Afri- 
can diamonds  and  garnets.  It  cost  their  western  dupes 
about  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars  all  told. 

The  finding  of  a  diamond  by  John  W.  Huddleston,  2 
miles  southeast  of  Murfreesboro,  Pike  county,  Arkansas, 
in  August,  1906,  has  since  been  prolific  of  learned 
opinions  and  discussions  and,  as  far  as  publicly  known, 
about  140  diamonds  ranging  from  1/64  of  a  carat  to 
about  6l/2  carats  each.  Investigation  showed  that  a 
volcanic  pipe  of  material,  which  authorities  pronounce 
similar  to  the  kimberlite  of  Africa,  exists  where  the  dia- 
monds are  found,  and  it  was  confidently  hoped  that  it 
would  prove  rich  in  diamonds.  A  company  of  reputable 
men  was  formed  to  develop  the  property  and  about  130 
diamonds  were  found  during  the  first  year,  but  nothing 
of  any  importance  has  been  reported,  though  much  work 
has  been  done.  Since  the  original  company  was  taken 
over  by  another  with  a  largely  increased  capital  stock, 
however,  there  is  a  report  that  about  5,000  stones  alto- 


224  THE  DIAMOND 

gather,  weighing  217  carats,  have  been  taken  from  the 
property  of  the  Arkansas  Diamond  Company,  and  about 
35  stones  from  the  Mauny  tract  in  the  same  pipe. 

There  is  a  popular  idea  that  material  like  the  kimber- 
lite  of  South  Africa  necessarily  carries  diamonds.  Not 
only  is  this  not  so,  but  when  it  does,  it  does  not  always 
follow  that  there  are  diamonds  sufficient  to  pay  for  get- 
ting them  out.  The  richest  diamond  chimneys  of 
Africa  together,  do  not  average  ]/*  carat  of  diamond 
to  i, 600  pounds  weight  of  the  matrix,  and  though 
very  many  diamondiferous  pipes  have  been  discovered 
there,  only  a  very  few  pay  the  expense  of  working 
them.  Undoubtedly  there  are  a  number  of  volcanic 
dikes  in  the  United  States  of  similar  material,  and 
in  some  cases,  almost  identical  with  that  contained 
in  the  African  pipes,  but  in  that  which  most  resembles 
the  African,  no  diamonds  whatever  have  been  discovered. 
Many  of  the  so-called  diamonds  reported,  have  proved 
to  be  rock  crystal;  some  of  the  genuine  diamonds  found 
are  thought  to  have  been  placed  where  they  were  dis- 
covered, and  the  circulation  of  exaggerated  stories  in 
the  press  has  always  been  followed  by  the  formation  of 
stock  companies  whose  printing  bills  far  exceeded  in 
amount,  the  value  of  the  diamonds  produced.  It  is 
doubtful  if  all  the  diamonds  found  thus  far  in  the  United 
States  would  fetch  $10,000  as  regular  merchandise  even 
at  the  present  high  prices. 

"  One  touch  of  Nature  makes  the  whole  world  akin." 
For  long  years  man  regarded  all  the  universe  outside 
the  earth  as  something  foreign  and  strange;  unlike  the 
elements  with  which  we  are  familiar.  But  the  earth, 
sweeping  through  her  orbit,  catches  betimes  some  wan- 


DIAMOND  MINING  225 

derers  in  space  and  drawing  them  to  her,  anchors  them 
forever  from  their  aeonic  journeyings.  These  meteoric 
visitors  upon  examination,  reveal  to  us  that  in  the  far- 
away space  which  our  imagination  has  peopled  with 
spirits  and  things  ethereal,  are  the  same  solid  elements 
common  to  us  here  and  subject  to  the  same  laws  which 
govern  ours.  The  white  hot  line  which  came  from  other 
worlds  to  cross  our  sky,  when  we  dig  it  from  the  earth 
where  it  plunged  to  darkness,  is  found  to  be  a  mass  of 
minerals  the  same  as  ours,  heated  as  ours  would  be  if  a 
similar  lump  of  them  went  hurtling  through  the  air  at 
40  miles  per  second.  Iron,  the  same  as  ours;  olivine 
and  augite,  the  same  as  that  of  earthly  origin,  and  in 
some  of  these  fragments  of  far-off  worlds  are  crystals 
such  as  the  people  of  earth  cut  into  gems  with  which 
to  bedeck  themselves.  It  may  be  therefore  that  in  other 
spheres  there  are  creatures  who  also  shine  resplendent 
with  diamonds. 

On  September  22,  1886,  three  of  these  meteorites  fell 
near  Novo  Urei,  a  small  place  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Alatyr,  a  river  of  the  Krasnoslobodsk  district  of  the 
government  of  Penza,  a  remote  part  of  southeastern 
Russia.  One  of  these  on  examination  by  scientists  was 
found  to  contain  about  i  per  cent,  of  diamantoid  carbon 
in  the  form  of  carbonado  in  small  grayish  grains. 

Diamonds  in  some  form,  usually  as  cubes  of  graphite, 
have  since  been  found  in  a  number  of  other  meteorites 
which  have  come  to  the  earth  in  various  parts  of  the 
world.  It  is  thought  that  these  were  originally  diamond 
crystals  and  were  later  changed  to  graphite,  as  they 
would  change  if  subjected  to  a  high  temperature  without 
access  of  air.  Such  diamondiferous  meteorites  have 

15 


226  THE  DIAMOND 

fallen  at  Canon  Diablo  in  Arizona,  at  Toluca  in  Mexico, 
in  Tennessee,  U.  S.,  Arva  in  Hungary  and  at  Carcote 
in  the  desert  of  Atacama,  Chile.  In  the  latter,  the 
grains  of  diamond  were  black. 

The  finding  of  diamondiferous  carbon  in  these  meteor- 
ites, which  are  fused  masses,  of  iron  principally,  has 
done  much  to  establish  the  conviction  that  carbon  was 
crystallized  in  the  earth  by  heat  and  pressure,  and  by  the 
mental  reaction  of  imaginative  minds,  has  produced 
many  fanciful  theories  and  much  poetic  writing.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  in  ages  past  such  meteorites,  rained 
upon  the  earth  and  embedded  there,  the  matrix  dis- 
solved by  the  restless  chemistry  of  Nature,  may  have 
furnished  for  the  discovery  of  later  ages,  mines  of  the 
indestructible  gem.  This  is  poetic  babble.  The  earth 
needs  not  to  draw  upon  vagrants  of  the  sky,  charged 
as  it  is  in  every  pore  with  the  element  of  which  diamond 
is  its  purest  and  most  beautiful  form.  In  earth  and 
air;  in  things  animate  and  inanimate;  in  the  vegetation 
of  the  earth  and  the  bodies  of  men;  in  the  charcoal  pit 
and  the  breath  we  constantly  expire,  is  that  of  which 
diamond  is  only  a  form,  carbon. 


25 

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3 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  DIAMOND  MINES   OF  SOUTH   AFRICA 

TN  writing  the  history  of  any  important  movement  in 
•*•  the  world's  affairs,  it  is  difficult  to  find  the  begin- 
ning of  it.  A  turn  of  the  lever  will  set  a  machine  in 
motion  if  there  is  sufficient  steam  back  of  it.  Similarly, 
the  momentous  results  which  sometimes  follow  a  trivial 
action,  would  not  happen  but  for  preparatory  conditions. 
The  discovery  of  the  African  diamond  fields,  which  has 
not  only  founded  the  fortunes  of  thousands  throughout 
the  world,  but  has  also  become  a  potent  factor  in  the 
creation  of  a  new  empire,  is  usually  ascribed  to  the 
chance  finding  of  a  diamond  among  a  Boer  child's  play- 
things, and  as  the  circumstance  that  first  gets  into  print, 
or  being  in  print,  happens  to  be  most  widely  quoted,  be- 
comes history,  this  will  probably  be  accepted  as  an  his- 
torical fact. 

As  the  story  goes,  the  little  son  of  a  Boer  woman  liv- 
ing near  Hopetown  on  the  Orange  river,  was  in  the 
habit  of  gathering  the  pretty  stones  lying  in  the  fields 
thereabouts,  to  play  with.  One  of  them  attracted  his 
mother's  eye  and  she  spoke  of  it  one  day  to  a  neighbor, 
Van  Niekirk  by  name,  when  he  stopped  in  passing,  to 
gossip.  As  he  seemed  interested,  she  looked  for  it  among 
the  child's  treasures,  but  it  was  gone.  She  found  it, 
however,  in  the  grounds  outside,  where  he  had  thrown, 
or  left  it  in  his  play.  Van  Niekirk  offered  to  buy  it. 

227 


228  THE  DIAMOND 

Laughing  at  the  idea  of  taking  money  for  a  stone,  she 
refused  to  sell,  but  gave  it  to  him.  He  showed  it  later 
to  a  friend  named  O'Reilly  and  the  latter,  when  he 
went  soon  after  to  Grahamstown,  took  it  with  him  and 
submitted  it  to  a  mineralogist  there,  Dr.  Guibon  Ather- 
stone,  who  at  once  pronounced  it  to  be  a  diamond.  The 
crystal  is  variously  reported  to  have  weighed  twenty- 
one  and  three-sixteenths,  and  twenty-three  and  three- 
sixteenths  carats.  After  being  exhibited  at  the  Paris 
Exhibition,  it  was  sold  to  Sir  Phillip  Wodehouse,  gov- 
ernor of  Cape  Colony,  for  five  hundred  pounds.  The 
story  may  be  true,  or  partially  true,  or  like  novels  and 
history,  be  founded  on  fact,  though  it  was  told  among 
the  diggers  on  the  Vaal  river  a  few  years  later,  that 
the  stone  bought  by  the  governor  was  picked  up  at 
Klipdrift  by  a  Koranna.  There  is  some  confirmation  of 
latter  version  in  the  fact  that  "the  first  diggers 
gathered  on  the  Vaal  about  Pniel  and  Klipdrift.  This 
stone,  wherever  found,  may  have  been  the  first  diamond 
recognized  in  South  Africa,  though  earlier  discoveries 
have  been  claimed  by  travelers  through  that  country,  one 
of  them  certainly  from  the  United  States,  who  said  that 
he  picked  up  a  stone  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Orange 
river  in  1859,  which  was  afterwards  pronounced  to  be 
a  diamond  by  several  persons  competent  to  pass  judg- 
ment. It  is  probable  that  diamonds  had  been  found  there 
at  various  times  without  attracting  much  attention,  or 
awakening  sufficient  interest  to  induce  anyone  to  search 
for  them  through  the  barren  wilds  of  that  sparsely  set- 
tled country.  When  Opportunity  stares  one  in  the  face 
she  is  seldom  recognized.  The  outcrop  of  a  ledge  of 
ore  which  afterwards  became  a  famous  mine  in  these 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     229 

States,  served  for  years  as  a  doorstep  for  a  native,  until 
a  passing  stranger  saw  the  possibility  and  got  out  the 
fortune  which  lay  under  it.  / 

Van  Niekirk's  offer  to  buy  the  stone  is  also  suggestive. 
A  Boer  does  not  often  offer  money  for  a  thing  unless 
it  is  worth  money.  His  consultation  with  his  friend, 
and  the  sending  of  it  to  an  expert,  indicates  that  he  had 
heard  of  diamonds  in  that  section. 

Whenever  the  first  stone  was  found  and  by  whomso- 
ever, the  notoriety  gained  by  that  exhibited  at  the  Paris 
Exhibition,  turned  the  faces  of  adventurers  toward  the 
interior  of  South  Africa  and  they  began  to  drift  that 
way. 

This  was  in  1867.  There  was  at  that  time  a 
Moravian  Mission  at  a  place  called  Pniel  on  the  southern 
banks  of  the  Vaal  river.  On  the  opposite  side  was  a 
settlement  known  as  Klipdrift  which  has  since  become 
Barkly  West.  It  was  about  these  two  places,  but 
chiefly  at  Pniel,  that  the  first  diggers  gathered.  Most 
of  them  were  from  Cape  Colony.  A  knowledge  of 
things  was  disseminated  more  rapidly  there,  and  the 
people  were  quicker  to  respond  to  an  enterprise  which 
took  one  from  home,  than  the  Boers. 

Imagine  the  country.  Far  from  civilization.  A 
great  plateau  of  warty  kopjes  among  barren  mountains; 
the  wide  stretches  of  stone  and  gravel,  hidden  in  spots 
by  a  sparse  vegetation  of  brush  and  grass.  Here  and 
there,  many  miles  apart,  Boer  farm  houses,  or  kraals  of 
the  natives.  Wandering  wide,  sheep  and  cattle  on  oc- 
casional acres;  the  springbok  and  other  wild  game 
browsing  unmindful  over  unmolested  square  miles.  A 
borderland  between  a  new  Boer  settlement  and  the 


230  THE  DIAMOND 

roaming  place  of  the  mongrel  Hottentot  Griquas.  For 
centuries,  Kaffirs  and  Hottentots  had  wandered  through 
it.  The  Boers  had  trekked  it,  the  English  following; 
both  passing  over  land  so  poor  and  plenty  that  neither 
cared  to  take  it  from  the  natives  who  migrated  there. 
Yet  in  the  no-mans  land  which  both  left  unconsidered 
when  they  drew  their  border  lines,  Nature  had  concealed 
treasures  probably  older  than  man  and  greater  than  he 
had  yet  conceived  possible. 

After  the  Dutch  founded  the  Orange  Free  State,  it 
became  necessary  to  make  a  landmark  which  should  be 
a  respected  dividing  line  between  them  in  their  new  set- 
tlement, and  the  English  with  their  coast  line  to  the 
south  and  a  habit  of  extension  into  the  indefinite  in  all 
directions.  By  the  treaty  of  Alivai,  signed  in  1869, 
England  pledged  herself  not  to  interfere  with  the  ter- 
ritory north  of  the  Orange  river.  But  big  wheels  turn 
on  small  pivots.  That  African  diamond  had  already 
started  forces  working  which  would  not  only  modify  the 
treaty  of  Alivai  but  impregnate  Africa  with  the  seed  of 
Empire. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  few  persons  living  in 
that  territory  made  any  systematic  search  for  the 
precious  stones.  It  had  not  yet  occurred  to  them  that 
there  were  enough  to  make  it  worth  while.  Undoubtedly 
the  eyes  of  some  roved  when  they  went  about,  and 
Van  Niekirk  and  others  doubtless  were  alert  for  more 
stones  like  that  other,  which  the  children  or  natives 
might  possess,  but  it  is  evident  that  those  who  knew  of 
the  diamonds  did  not  spread  their  knowledge,  for  at  that 
time  there  were  diamonds  sticking  in  the  walls  of  some 
of  the  Boer  farm  buildings  not  many  miles  from  the 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     231 

Vaal,  unrecognized.  Neither  were  there  many  diggers 
from  outside. 

But  in  1869  came  a  confirmation  of  the  existence  of 
diamonds  in  that  locality,  which  created  excitement.  A 
diamond  weighing  over  eighty  carats  was  picked  up  by 
a  native.  It  has  since  been  named  the  "  Star  of  South 
Africa."  As  soon  as  this  find  was  noised  abroad,  ad- 
venturers flocked  to  the  Vaal.  The  New  York  Herald 
in  September,  1870,  published  an  extract  from  the  Gra>- 
hamstown  (Cape  of  Good  Hope)  Journal,  of  August 
1 2th  which  said,  "  Every  town  and  district  in  the  Colony 
has  sent  its  contingent  to  the  army  of  workers  at  the 
Vaal  fields.  In  May  there  were  about  one  hundred  men 
at  the  diggings.  Before  the  end  of  June  there  were 
seven  hundred,  at  the  close  of  July  there  were  over  one 
thousand,  and  at  present  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  at 
the  Klipdrift,  Pniel,  Hebron  and  Kuskamana  Fields  no 
less  than  two  thousand  men."  As  soon  as  the  news  was 
published  in  London  and  New  York,  men  began  to  flock 
from  England  and  this  continent  to  the  magic  of  "  dia- 
monds." Naturally  much  the  larger  number  were  from 
the  colony's  mother  country.  By  April  of  1871  there 
were  about  five  thousand  diggers  scattered  along  the 
Vaal,  Modder,  and  Orange  rivers. 

In  these  early  days  of  the  diggings,  the  men  who 
gathered  there  were  an  orderly  class  of  people.  The 
difficulties  and  hardships  to  be  encountered  in  reaching 
the  fields,  deterred  the  idle  and  worthless;  the  cost  of 
the  journey  was  a  barrier  to  the  impoverished,  and  there 
was  not  yet  sufficient  success  to  tempt  the  criminal  and 
vicious.  The  country  was  outside  the  bounds  of  estab- 
lished law  and  government.  Beyond  the  Cape  Colony's 


232  THE  DIAMOND 

jurisdiction,  and  supposedly  within  the  undefined  western 
territory  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  it  lay  really  in 
the  land  of  the  Griqua  chief  Waterboer,  over  whom  the 
British  Government  exercised  some  kind  of  protectorate. 
Until  the  arrival  of  the  diggers,  the  entire  country  round 
about  for  many  miles,  was  practically  uninhabited.  The 
miners  therefore  were  a  law  unto  themselves.  When  a 
number  gathered  at  any  particular  locality,  their  usual 
method  of  procedure  was  to  appoint  from  their  number 
a  committee  of  three  or  five,  who  under  certain  by-laws, 
rules,  and  regulations  agreed  upon,  were  empowered  to 
grant  licenses  to  diggers,  preserve  order,  and  punish 
offenses.  These  men  received  a  small  fee  for  the  per- 
formance of  their  duties,  and  their  authority  was  gen- 
erally respected  and  sustained.  Punishments  were 
quite  primitive;  there  were  no  jails.  Natives  were 
whipped  for  stealing.  White  men  were  put  over  the 
river,  and  occasionally  got  several  duckings  on  the  way. 
The  license  varied  in  the  different  localities,  ranging 
from  2s.  6d.  to  ten  shillings  per  month.  The  claims 
were  thirty  feet  by  thirty  feet,  a  measurement  which 
was  maintained  in  all  the  fields  later,  when  they  had 
grown  very  considerably  in  importance.  To  prevent  an 
idle  speculation  in  claims  the  owner  was  obliged  to  work 
his  claim  continuously.  If  he  failed  to  pick  it  at  least 
once  in  three  days,  another  might  jump  it  and  acquire 
ownership. 

^  When  the  Free  State  government  found  that  the  busi- 
ness of  digging  for  diamonds  was  assuming  a  degree  of 
importance,  it  sent  on  magistrates,  and  officers  to  impose 
and  collect  taxes  on  the  miners  and  shopkeepers,  but 
these  refused  to  pay  them  until  the  question  of  jurisdic- 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     233 

tion  was  decided.  ,  The  Cape  Colony  was  appealed  to, 
and  Sir  Henry  Barkly,  the  governor,  in  the  early  part 
of  March,  1871,  visited  the  diggings  and  the  President 
of  the  Free  State,  to  endeavor  to  arrange  matters  be- 
tween the  miners,  the  Free  State,  and  the  natives  who 
claimed  that  the  territory  was  not  in  the  Free  State 
limits. 

At  Cawoods  Hope,  a  settlement  on  the  river,  twelve 
miles  from  Pniel  as  the  crow  flies,  the  Free  State  had 
gathered  a  commando  to  enforce  their  demands.  The 
diggers  at  once  organized  themselves  into  a  military 
body  and  prepared  to  make  a  vigorous  resistance.  The 
Boer  commando,  however,  kept  within  the  territory  they 
occupied.  The  contending  parties  finally  agreed  to  sub- 
mit the  matter  to  a  commission,  and  the  English  flag 
was  hoisted  at  Kimberley,  November  7,  1871.  The 
commando  of  one  thousand  men  was  kept  in  the  field 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Cape  Colony  police,  when  upon 
demand  of  the  governor,  backed  by  his  threat  that  he 
would  not  proceed  with  the  arbitration  otherwise,  the 
president  of  the  Free  State  dispersed  them.  Great 
Britain  finally  paid  the  Orange  Free  State  £90,000  in 
1877,  in  settlement  of  whatever  rights  that  government 
may  have  had  in  the  premises. 

There  had  been  another  attempt  to  impose  a  tax  upon 
the  miners.  This  was  for  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  the  finds,  and  was  made  by  the  missionaries 
among  the  native  tribes.  This  demand  was  also  re- 
sisted and  could  not  be  enforced.  In  1871,  therefore,  the 
territory  west,  from  east  of  Platberg  on  the  Vaal,  to 
Ramah  on  the  Orange  river,  passed  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  government  of  the  Cape  Colony. 


234  THE  DIAMOND 

By  1870  the  Inland  Transport  Company  ran  an  ex- 
press wagon  from  Cape  Town  to  Klipdrift  once  a  week, 
carrying  passengers  for  twelve  pounds  sterling  each. 
The  journey  consumed  from  seven  to  ten  days.  The 
wagon  and  horses  were  carried  by  rail  to  Wellington. 
From  there  on,  the  journey  was  made  by  wagon,  drawn 
sometimes  by  eight  horses,  two  abreast,  at  others  by  ten 
mules,  'through  Karoo  Poort,  an  opening  between  two 
mountains  leading  to  the  Karoo  Plains,  a  desolate  stretch 
of  forty  miles  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  lofty  mountains, 
and  on  over  the  Karoo  to  Beaufort  West,  Victoria  West, 
Hopetown,  across  the  Orange  river  and  on  to  Pniel. 

Although  Port  Elizabeth  was  nearer,  the  fields  were 
much  more  difficult  of  access  from  there,  as  the  only 
public  means  of  conveyance  was  by  ox-wagon,  taking 
from  thirty  to  sixty  days  to  accomplish  the  journey. 

The  search  for  diamonds  was  carried  on  in  primitive 
fashion.  The  newcomer  might  preempt  a  new  claim  by 
taking  out  a  license,  or  jump  an  old  one  if  the  former 
owner  had  failed  to  pick  it  in  three  days  according  to  rule, 
or  he  could  buy  one  from  the  owner.  At  that  time  claims 
were  sometimes  sold  for  as  much  as  one  hundred  pounds, 
but  not  often.  The  implements  necessary  were  pick, 
shovel,  rocker,  or  a  couple  of  half  barrels,  and,  if  away 
from  water,  an  ox  or  mule,  and  a  cart.  The  latter 
could  be  hired  by  the  day  if  the  digger  did  not  own 
them.  Some  provided  these  things  at  the  coast  towns 
and  brought  them  along,  but  they  could  be  obtained 
cheaper  at  the  diggings.  In  the  early  days,  before  the 
finding  of  the  "  Star  of  South  Africa/'  the  departures 
were  about  as  frequent  as  the  arrivals.  The  funds  of 
many  of  the  diggers  were  exhausted  before  they  found 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA    235 

anything,  consequently  there  were  enough  implements 
being  sold  at  auction  all  the  time  to  supply  the  new- 
comers. The  rocker  was  a  crude  affair.  A  box  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  high,  open  at  the  top  and  one  end, 
was  put  on  rockers  like  a  cradle.  In  this  were  set  at 
intervals,  two  or  three  screens  made  of  wire  or 
perforated  zinc;  coarse,  medium  and  fine;  the  coarse 
one  on  top.  A  piece  of  wood  nailed  perpendicularly  to 
the  closed  end  of  the  box  served  as  a  handle  so  that  the 
digger  could  stand  in  front  and  rock  it.  The  earth  and 
gravel  was  shoveled  into  the  top  screen  and  one  digger 
rocked  while  another  poured  in  water.  When  the 
screens  were  full  of  stones,  caught  as  the  water  washed 
the  dirt  through,  they  were  taken  out  and  the  stones 
emptied  onto  a  sorting  table,  where  the  digger  with  a 
piece  of  zinc  several  inches  long  and  straight  on  one 
edge,  scraped  off  the  worthless  stones,  saving  those  of 
value.  Generally  the  table  was  scraped  clean.  Some- 
times a  new  man  would  joy-fully  save  some  glittering 
pieces  of  rock  crystal,  to  learn  later  from  a  more  ex- 
perienced neighbor  that  he  had  not  yet  caught  the 
precious  diamond.  But  men  soon  learned  to  know  at 
sight  the  spot  of  light  in  the  gravelly  heap,  which  be- 
trayed the  gem,  and  the  refuse  would  be  scraped  away 
with  a  rapidity  that  impressed  a  new  man  as  improvi- 
dent and  reckless  carelessness. 

Some  diggers  used  two  tubs  for  washing.  A  barrel 
cut  in  twain  served  the  purpose.  The  two  halves  were 
filled  with  water.  A  square  sieve  was  filled  with  gravel 
and  shaken  in  the  first  tub  until  the  dirt  and  fine  gravel 
was  washed  out.  The  stones  were  then  rinsed  in  the 
second  tub  and  emptied  on  the  sorting  table. 


236  THE  DIAMOND 

Claims  on  the  river  were  easier  to  work  because  of 
the  nearness  of  the  water.  If  away  from  the  river,  the 
gravel  had  to  be  carted  there,  though  some  carried  it 
in  buckets  or  sacks.  Either  way,  the  work  was  hard, 
and  many  men  who  went  there  with  visions  of  diamonds 
in  every  bucketful,  tired  of  it,  and  left  the  fields  with- 
out diamonds  or  money. 

All  about  the  river  banks  were  gravelly  shallows  be- 
tween kopjes  twenty-five,  fifty,  and  sometimes  a  hun- 
dred feet  high,  and  scattered  over  all,  big  stones  and 
bowlders,  looking  as  if  at  some  time  the  whole  section 
had  been  under  water.  The  dirt  and  gravel  was  picked 
and  shoveled  into  heaps  ready  for  washing,  and  some- 
times a  big  stone  was  found  while  this  was  being  done. 

Notwithstanding  the  disappointments  of  many,  dia- 
monds were  found  constantly.  Some  were  fortunate. 
One  might  pick  and  scoop  the  gravel  for  weeks  and  find 
none,  or  at  best  a  few  small  ones.  Another  working 
near  him  might  strike  a  pocketful  of  them.  Occasion- 
ally the  camp  would  be  electrified  by  the  find  of  one 
large  enough  to  make  a  snug  fortune  for  the  lucky  finder. 
Sometimes  false  reports  of  big  finds  were  set  in  motion 
to  prepare  the  way  for  the  sale  of  a  worthless  claim  for 
a  price. 

So  the  diggers  worked  and  spread  themselves  over 
the  country,  some  keeping  close  to  the  rivers,  some  led 
off  by  an  unexpected  find  away  from  the  shores,  for 
diamonds  were  found  at  a  distance  of  several  miles 
from  the  river,  left  there  as  the  diggers  supposed,  by 
waters  that  had  since  receded,  or  by  rivers  that  had 
changed  their  channels.  The  work  was  hard  and  for 
the  most  part  unprofitable;  the  fare  coarse,  and  the 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     237 

climate  somewhat  trying.  In  the  summer  the  ther- 
mometer would  go  to  115°  in  the  shade.  In  winter 
there  was  freezing  weather.  Shelter  was  of  the  rough- 
est. The  houses  were  built  of  packing  boxes  and 
pieces  of  tin.  The  pioneers  carried  with  them  small 
tents  or  "  bug-walks "  as  they  called  them.  Getting 
there,  especially  by  the  ox-wagon  route,  was  the  most 
tiresome  part.  Barnato  said  of  his  journey  to  Kim- 
berley,  that  he  paid  a  big  price  for  the  privilege  of  walk- 
ing beside  a  wagon  by  day  and  sleeping  under  it  at 
night.  But  work  at  the  diggings  was  more  dangerous. 
The  hard  work,  poor  shelter,  almost  entire  lack  of  good 
drinking  water,  for  the  African  rivers  are  all  muddy, 
and  there  was  no  water  at  that  time  at  the  dry  diggings, 
and  the  abundance  of  troublesome  insects,  made  a  com- 
bination to  which  many  succumbed. 

Meantime  diggers  were  straggling  among  the  kopjes 
to  the  South  toward  the  Modder  river.  About  half 
way  between  the  Vaal  and  the  Modder  rivers,  one  of 
them  discovered  a  number  of  small  diamonds  among  a 
lot  of  stones  the  children  of  a  farmer  played  with. 
This  was  in  December,  1870,  on  the  Vooruizigt  farm. 
Diamonds  had  also  been  found  among  a  lot  of  pebbles 
picked  up  on  the  Bultfontein  farm.  Immediately,  the 
diggers  began  to  swarm  throughout  that  neighborhood, 
prospecting  in  every  direction.  They  found  a  number 
of  diamonds  sticking  in  the  walls  of  Farmer  Van  Wyk's 
dwelling,  which  he  had  plastered  with  mud  from  a 
neighboring  pond  of  his  farm  Du  Toit's  Pan.  This 
led  to  the  discovery  of  the  mine  so  named,  which  was 
the  first  of  the  four  celebrated  mines  known  later  as 
the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines.  The  excitement 


238  THE  DIAMOND 

grew,  and  the  influx  of  men  seeking  for  diamonds 
aroused  the  attention  of  the  scattered  Boer  farmers, 
who  found  many  of  these  people  a  dangerous  nuisance. 
Diamonds  were  in  the  thoughts  of  every  one.  Even  the 
Boer  farmers  grew  observant.  New  discoveries  would 
be  followed  by  a  "  rush  "of  floating  diggers.  Disputes 
arose  about  claims  and  boundaries,  which  the  men,  upon 
whose  lands  the  diggers  swarmed,  were  unable  to  adjust 
or  regulate.  So  troublesome  were  the  newcomers,  that 
the  owners  were  glad  to  dispose  of  their  land  to  escape 
the  difficulties.  English  capital  already  had  representa- 
tives upon  the  field.  The  Du  Toit's  Pan  was  sold  to 
an  English  Company  for  £2,600.  The  Bultfontein, 
south  and  a  little  west  of  the  Du  Toit's  Pan,  was  next 
discovered.  Then  the  prospecting  which  had  been  going 
on  since  December,  1870,  on  the  Vooruitzigt  farm,  re- 
sulted in  the  location  of  the  Old  De  Beers  mine,  so 
named  because  the  farm  was  owned  by  a  Boer  of  that 
name.  On  July  21,  1871,  the  old  De  Beers  New  Rush 
on  Colesburgh  Kopje  near  by,  discovered  the  last  of  the 
great  quartette,  and  these  New  Rush  Diggings  as  they 
were  called,  became  the  Kimberley  mine,  and  as  it 
proved,  the  richest  mine  of  the  four. 

By  this  time  it  had  come  to  the  understanding  of  the 
miners,  that  these  finds  back  from  the  rivers,  were  not 
occasional  scatterings  of  a  few  diamonds  in  an  alluvial 
deposit,  but  that  there  were  large  areas  of  diamond-bear- 
ing earth  quite  independent  of  the  rivers,  and  out  of 
the  reach  of  the  water-courses. 

As  the  gravel  was  picked  and  sieved  without  the  aid 
of  water,  they  were  called  "  dry  diggings."  In  these 
places,  the  miners  would  handpick  the  earth  they  had 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA    239 

shoveled,  and  sieve  the  balance  dry  in  a  square  sieve  with 
four  handles  requiring  two  men  for  the  operation.  The 
miners  also  learned  that  diamonds  were  always  found 
in  a  certain  kind  of  yellow  earth  that  lay  upon,  or  very 
near  the  surface,  and  which  penetrated  the  earth  to  some 
distance,  consequently  wherever  they  found  that  yellow 
ground,  mining  claims  were  staked  and  worked  over  for 
the  diamonds  it  always  contained. 

The  number  of  these  claims  grew,  and  the  number  of 
those  who  worked  them  increased,  and  to  them  were 
added  a  motley  collection  of  natives,  until  there  was  a 
horde  of  men  of  every  kind  and  class,  engaged  in  an 
occupation  which  stimulated  greed,  encouraged  theft, 
and  attracted  rascality  from  all  quarters.  Soon,  even 
the  unruly  found,  that  not  only  some  kind  of  law,  but 
a  governmental  power  able  to  enforce  it  was  necessary. 
But  what  government?  The  mines  were  in  a  no-man's 
land.  They  were  near  the  undoubted  territory  of  the 
Orange  Free  State,  but  the  English  were  on  the  spot, 
and  English  capital  was  being  invested  rapidly  in  the 
development  of  the  mines,  therefore  England  became 
interested.  Under  these  circumstances  the  appropria- 
tion of  the  territory  on  the  appeal  of  the  miners  and  the 
Griqua  chief,  was  but  a  natural  evolution  of  conditions. 
It  should  be  remembered  also  that  at  the  time,  neither 
miners  nor  capitalists  had  any  idea  of  the  vast  reservoirs 
of  diamondiferous  earth  which  lay  under  what  they  all 
supposed  were  shallow  alluvial  deposits.  Diamond-min- 
ing then,  was  not  regarded  as  a  permanent  industry 
which  would  keep  an  army  busy  for  many  years,  unearth- 
ing treasures  buried  so  deep  that  the  art  and  science 
of  the  old  countries  would  be  stimulated  to  furnish  the 


24o  THE  DIAMOND 

necessary  equipment.  It  was  a  feverish  scramble  to  get 
quickly  fortunes  lying  around  loose,  soon  to  be  gathered 
up  by  the  fortunate.  It  was  the  looting  of  a  chest 
discovered  by  chance  in  an  out-of-the-way  room  in  a 
long-forgotten  castle. 

Whatever  justice  or  injustice  there  was  in  the  action 
of  the  British  Government,  the  Cape  Colony  police 
brought  order  out  of  chaos,  and  under  the  hand  of  a 
strong  government,  the  industry  was  rapidly  developed 
to  tremendous  proportions. 

As  in  the  wet  diggings,  the  claims  at  Du  Toit's  Pan 
and  Bultfontein  were  thirty  by  thirty  English  feet  in 
extent.  At  the  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  they  were 
thirty  by  thirty  feet  Dutch  measurement,  which  equaled 
about  thirty-one  by  thirty-one  English  feet.  To  afford 
entrance  and  exit  to  the  inner  claims,  the  authorities, 
profiting  by  experience  on  the  three  other  mines,  re- 
quired that  a  strip  of  earth  running  north  and  south, 
fifteen  feet  wide,  be  left  between  every  second  row,  on 
the  Kimberley,  to  be  used  as  a  roadway,  thereby  taking 
jy2  feet  from  each  claim.  The  dividing  lines,  being  in 
earth  which  might  carry  anywhere  a  stone  worth  a  for- 
tune, were  a  source  of  trouble.  The  claim  owner  sat  at 
a  stake  in  the  roadway  which  marked  the  corner  of  his 
claim.  Ropes  and  a  pulley  were  attached  to  this  by 
which  the  earth  was  hauled  up  from  the  digging.  As 
the  workings  went  down,  these  roadways  became  dan- 
gerous walls  and  finally  had  to  be  taken  down.  A  sys- 
tem of  haulage  from  all  parts  of  the  mine  by  wire  ropes 
and  buckets  to  the  reef  was  then  adopted  at  all  the 
mines,  and  they  became  pandemoniums  of  creaking 
cables  and  swaying  buckets.  This  haulage  system  was 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     241 

in  the  hands  of  a  mining  board,  who  assessed  the  miners 
for  the  cost.  In  the  early  stages  of  the  open  workings 
the  "  stuff  "  was  hand  picked  and  sieved  dry,  but  with 
depth,  as  the  rock  became  harder,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  pulverize  and  wash  it,  so  that  water  and  facilities  for 
washing  had  to  be  provided.  An  1 8- foot  main  was 
built  to  bring  water  from  the  Vaal  river,  and  springs 
in  the  neighborhood  were  utilized.  These  conditions 
rapidly  increased  the  cost  of  mining,  and  tended  to 
eliminate  the  original  digger.  Mining  was  evolved  out 
of  digging,  and  the  independent  digger,  doing  much  if 
not  all  of  his  own  work,  was  replaced  by  the  small  mine 
owner  who  superintended  the  work  of  hired  labor. 

To  fully  understand  the  situation  one  must  bear  in 
mind  always  that  these  mines  were  squares  of  the  earth 
lying  in  a  crater  enclosed  by  the  reef,  as  the  natural 
strata  of  rocks  were  termed.  This  reef  walled  the 
crater  in  all  around.  In  the  reef  were  no  diamonds,  but 
there  were  diamonds  all  through  the  earth  which  it  en- 
closed, any  pailful  of  which  might  contain  one  of  great 
value,  and  the  squares  into  which  these  enclosures  were 
divided,  were  being  dug  out  to  various  depths  by  dif- 
ferent owners,  so  forming  a  vast  hole  in  the  ground,  the 
bottom  of  which  was  a  mass  of  deeper  holes,  hills,  and 
terraces. 

In  1876,  Kimberley,  now  a  city  of  thirty-five  thou- 
sand souls,  equipped  with  all  the  appliances  of  civiliza- 
tion, consisted  of  a  few  tin  huts  and  Kaffir  kraals.  It 
had  passed  from  the  honest  digger  stage  into  a  mining 
camp.  Gambling  places,  saloons,  and  the  usual  dens  of 
a  mining  camp  abounded.  In  the  motley  crowd  of 
white  men  and  black  men,  were  representatives  of  all 

16 


242  THE  DIAMOND 

conditions  and  races.  Theft  and  illicit  trading  in  dia- 
monds was  common.  Rumor  has  since  told  of  fortunes 
founded  on  the  purchase  of  diamonds  from  thieving 
natives  for  small  prices,  by  rascally  whites  who  en- 
couraged them  to  rob  their  -employers.  These  blacks 
used  every  aperture  of  the  body  to  conceal  their  spoils. 
It  was  a  common  practice  to  swallow  them,  until  power- 
ful drugs  made  that  method  of  concealing  them  un- 
popular. White  men  often  obtained  from  native  women, 
for  little  or  nothing,  gems  which  they  in  turn  had  pro- 
cured from  the  blacks  working  in  the  mines.  It  was  a 
time  of  sordid  avarice  and  unrecognized  crime.  Condi- 
tions assisted  the  criminals.  The  Orange  Free  State 
border  was  but  a  short  distance  off.  There  was  no  ex- 
tradition law.  The  buyer  of  stolen  diamonds  had  but 
to  carry  them  across  that  line  and  the  Cape  Colony 
authorities  were  powerless. 

This  state  of  things  continued  until  1881,  when  the 
De  Beers  Company  inaugurated  a  system  to  cope  with 
it  Up  to  that  time  it  was  estimated  that  diamonds  to 
the  value  of  one  million  pounds  sterling  had  been  stolen 
annually.  A  law  against  illicit  diamond-buying  was 
passed  which  provided  a  penalty,  on  conviction,  of 
eight  to  fifteen  years  hard  labor  on  the  breakwater  at 
Cape  Town.  Rogues  began  to  be  more  cautious.  The 
clumsy  ones  were  caught  or  driven  out  of  business. 
Shrewd  ones  had  to  resort  to  extraordinary  methods, 
and  use  great  precaution.  It  is  told  of  one,  that  he  in- 
vited the  chief  of  the  detectives  to  join  him  in  a  shoot- 
ing expedition.  The  detective  carried  his  diamonds  over 
the  line  for  the  man  he  was  watching,  concealed  in 
cartridges  with  which  his  crafty  host  had  provided  him, 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     243 

and  which  he  exchanged  for  others  when  the  detective 
found  they  did  not  fit  his  gun.  Though  the  I.  D.  B. 
act,  as  it  was  called  (I.  D.  B.  stands  for  Illicit  Diamond 
Buying),  materially  reduced  the  illicit  trading  in  dia- 
monds, it  did  not  stop  it  entirely.  The  natives,  who 
were  much  more  expert  thieves  than  the  whites,  con- 
tinued to  make  the  attempt,  and  though  they  were  often 
caught,  frequently  succeeded.  White  buyers  were  al- 
ways ready  to  take  chances  and  buy.  Men  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  fields,  for  a  long  time  reckoned  that 
fully  five  per  cent,  of  the  diamonds  found,  passed  out 
surreptitiously. 

As  the  miners  learned  of  the  well-defined  lateral  limits 
to  the  yellow  ground  which  only  contained  diamonds, 
and  followed  it  down  in  the  vertical  dykes  containing 
it,  they  began  to  encounter  new  difficulties  which  at  the 
depth  they  were  working,  not  only  menaced  their  for- 
tunes, but  the  lives  of  those  working  in  the  mines.  The 
towering  walls  formed  by  the  dividing  roadways  of  the 
Kimberley  were  taken  down  and  gone,  but  the  reef  of  all 
the  mines  began  to  fall  in  on  the  adjoining  claims.  Men 
with  good  paying  claims  would  wake  to  find  that  over- 
night, hundreds  of  tons  of  worthless  rock  and  earth 
had  fallen  and  covered  them.  Sometimes  it  covered  the 
miners  also.  There  were  mud-rushes  and  underground 
currents  of  water  which  made  havoc.  The  unfortunate 
who  had  insufficient  capital  to  tide  over  the  expense  en- 
tailed, sometimes  were  obliged  to  sell  out  to  men  or 
companies  waiting  for  such  opportunities.  Some  did 
not  have  sufficient  faith  in  the  continuance  of  the  dia- 
mond-bearing material.  Not  all  made  fortunes.  The 
number  of  ownerships  on  the  pipes  became  smaller;  the 


244  THE  DIAMOND 

necessity   for  united   action  became   greater.     Millions 
were  spent  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  encountered. 

By  this  time,  the  volcanic  origin  of  the  pipes  was  gen- 
erally understood,  and  the  miners  realized  that  larger 
and  more  expensive  methods  must  be  used,  for  the  work- 
ings were  nearly  four  hundred  feet  deep  in  places.  Con- 
ditions were  fast  reaching  a  point  where  open-cut  work- 
ing would  have  to  be  abandoned.  Before  this  time,  a 
crisis  had  been  reached  in  which  the  future  of  the  in- 
dustry and  of  the  fortunes  of  those  engaged  in  it  were 
staked  upon  their  judgment,  for  the  end  of  the  yellow 
ground  which  had  been  so  prolific  in  diamonds  came. 
There  were  generally  about  fifty  or  sixty  feet  of  it,  after 
which  in  some  cases  came  a  sort  of  transitional  stratum 
of  a  rusty  color,'  sixteen  to  twenty  feet  thick,  before  the 
"  blue,"  which  has  been  worked  ever  since,  was  reached. 
When  the  yellow  ground  came  to  an  end,  and  the 
"  rusty "  earth  or  the  first  blue  under  it  yielded  few 
diamonds,  many  thought  the  end  had  come,  and  that 
the  time  had  arrived  to  get  out,  sell  out  if  possible,  and 
seek  new  fields.  Barnato  used  to  tell  of  a  man  who 
had  some  good  claims  on  the  Kimberley,  and  who  when 
he  got  through  the  yellow  and  saw  the  blue,  allowed  a 
friend  to  dump  a  lot  of  worthless  yellow  into  his  claims 
so  as  to  cover  the  bottom.  He  then  sold  them  for  what 
he  could  get  and  cleared  out.  That  man  sold  his  claims 
for  four  hundred  pounds  because  he  thought  the  dia- 
mond mines  were  basins,  into  which  the  yellow  diamond- 
bearing  material  had  been  somehow  washed,  and  that 
the  blue  was  bed  rock.  A  little  later  he  could  not  have 
bought  back  the  claims  for  forty  thousand  pounds,  for 
the  belief  of  others  that  the  diamonds  came  from  below, 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA    245 

and  would  also  be  found  either  in  the  blue  or  below  it, 
had  been  established. 

This  idea  that  the  blue  was  bed  rock  and  that  the  end 
of  the  diamonds  had  been  reached,  together  with  the  in- 
creasing water  charges,  caused  many  men  to  sell  out. 
Some,  if  they  could  not  find  a  purchaser,  abandoned 
their  claims  lest  the  charges  should  eat  up  all  they  had 
previously  made.  The  miners  were  forced  to  back  their 
judgment  of  the  mines  with  their  fortunes.  If,  as  was 
first  thought,  these  mines  were  huge  basins  into  which 
at  some  early  period,  a  great  mass  of  diamond-bearing 
earth  was  swept,  and  the  blue  ground  was  the  bed  rock, 
then  to  keep  on  working  and  pay  the  heavy  charges 
being  made,  meant  early  ruin;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  new  theory,  that  the  diamonds  had  been  thrown  up 
from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  that  there  were  more 
in  the  blue  or  under  it,  was  correct,  then  fortunes  awaited 
those  who  held  onto  the  mines.  Some  had  faith  and 
remained,  acquiring  all  the  properties  they  could  of 
those  who  had  no  faith  and  left. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  blue  ground  was  fully  as 
rich  in  diamonds  as  the  yellow,  and  was  practically  in- 
exhaustible. London  and  Paris  heard  of  it.  Tales  of 
fabulous  fortunes  made  in  the  diamond  mines  of  Africa 
flew  everywhere  on  the  wings  of  rumor.  Thousands 
itched  for  a  share  of  the  stream  of  wealth  coming  out  of 
those  ancient  volcanoes.  Men  at  the  mines  were  not 
slow  to  recognize  the  opportunity.  Here  was  a  mine 
opening,  richer  than  the  mines  they  already  owned; 
the  mine  of  the  stock  market,  in  which  the  public  would 
take  the  risks  and  the  miner  the  lion's  share  of  the 
profits.  Companies  were  floated,  and  the  stock  was 


246  THE  DIAMOND 

greedily  taken  in  the  home  countries.  Barney  Barnato 
floated  his  first  company  in  1881.  He  had  saved  about 
£3,000  and  bought  some  claims  in  1876  which  paid  him 
well.  He  bought  others  later  and  turned  them  into  a 
company  at  £25,000  each.  The  company  paid  dividends 
of  9  per  cent.,  quarterly.  He  claimed  to  have  made 
£200,000  on  the  last  six  claims  held  by  an  individual 
in  the  Kimberley  which  he  bought  for  £30,000  each. 

The  African  mines  were  now  on  a  very  safe  basis 
for  the  promoters.  But  with  a  supply  of  diamonds  in- 
exhaustible, a  market  for  them  at  a  price,  two-thirds  of 
which  ought  to  be  profit,  and  outside  capital  to  risk  in 
ambitious  schemes  for  enlargement,  the  stock-company 
form  of  gambling,  or  swindling,  had  so  taken  hold  of 
the  fields,  that  many  of  the  mines  could  not  be  made  to 
pay  the  home  investors  any  returns  on  their  investment. 
It  was  an  ideal  time  for  the  growth  of  millionaires,  and 
they  grew.  A  great  many  companies  were  formed  on 
each  of  the  chimneys.  A  few  of  them  made  money  by 
selling  out  to  the  De  Beers  at  the  time  of  consolidation, 
but  many  of  them  never  paid  a  dividend,  and  some  of 
those  that  did,  could  only  squeeze  one  out  occasionally, 
by  unusually  good  management.  Though  some  claims 
had  yielded  enormous  profits  to  the  original  diggers,  and 
still  did  so  for  the  companies  into  which  they  were 
floated,  others  could  not  be  made  to  pay  after  they  had 
been  capitalized.  Meantime  Barnato  and  his  friends 
spread  their  fingers  over  the  Kimberley;  Rhodes  at  the 
De  Beers  spread  nets  over  the  entire  Kimberley  field, 
and  they  bided. 

The  consolidation  of  the  claims  began  with  the  ex- 
haustion of  the  yellow  ground.  It  was  accelerated  by 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     247 

the  formation  of  companies,  whose  promoters  often 
paid  big  prices  for  claims  which  they  could  turn  in  at 
a  large  profit.  Then  came  the  end  of  the  open-cut 
working.  They  were  all  down  about  four  hundred  feet, 
the  Bultfontein  four  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  places. 
The  reef  began  to  cave  in  to  such  an  extent  that  further 
profitable  working  by  that  method  was  impossible,  and 
underground  working  conducted  by  different  interests 
on  the  same  pipe  was  impractical.  It  had  been  tried  on 
both  the  De  Beers  and  Kimberley,  and  was  not  a  success. 
On  the  De  Beers  Mine,  the  De  Beers  Company,  the  Vic- 
toria, the  Oriental,  the  Gem,  and  others  tried  it,  and  as 
Barnato  stated  at  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  De 
Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company,  "  one  company 
worked  against  another.  If  one  company  was  on  the 
500  foot  level  and  another  on  the  450  foot  level,  the 
opposing  companies  could  eat  into  each  other's  boundary 
walls  and  pillars  to  such  a  dangerous  extent  that  the 
entire  mine  was  in  a  condition  which  threatened  collapse 
at  any  moment."  The  same  thing  happened  on  the  Kim- 
berley mine,  between  the  Central,  the  French,  and  the 
Standard.  Consolidation  became  an  absolute  necessity 
for  the  salvation  of  the  mines.  It  was  doubted  if  the 
Dutoitspan  and  Bultfontein  could  be  made  to  pay  even 
then  by  the  underground  system,  as  their  diamonds  at 
that  time  were  fetching  only  6s.  to  73.  per  load,  and  the 
cost  of  the  underground  work  on  the  Kimberley  and  De 
Beers  was  then  IDS.  per  load.  The  policy  of  Rhodes, 
therefore,  to  force  an  amalgamation  of  all  the  mines, 
and  thereby  reduce  the  cost  of  production  by  united 
action,  and  by  control  of  the  diamond  output  of  the 
world  practically,  to  be  able  to  increase  at  will  the  price 


248  THE  DIAMOND 

of  their  product,  under  the  conditions  which  existed, 
changed  a  threatened  collapse  into  one  of  the  most  stu- 
pendous successes  of  the  age. 

When  the  amalgamation  was  finally  consummated, 
the  De  Beers  Consolidated  owned  the  Kimberley,  De 
Beers,  Bultfontein,  and  three-quarters  of  the  Dutoitspan, 
and  of  the  £200,000  the  company  paid  for  leases  to  other 
companies,  most  of  it  came  back,  because  it  owned  most 
of  the  stock  of  the  properties  leased.  From  1889,  there- 
fore, the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company  con- 
trolled the  diamond  industry  of  the  world.  It  had  an  in- 
exhaustible supply  from  which  the  management  could 
draw  whatever  quantity  it  desired,  and  so  placed  that  it 
could  tell  beforehand  exactly  how  much  they  would 
cost,  and  the  output  was  very  nearly  the  world's  supply. 

Other  mines  were  discovered  from  time  to  time,  but 
few  of  them  were  sufficiently  important  to  affect  the 
market.  If  a  producer  of  size  appeared,  the  De  Beers 
were  able  by  purchase  of  the  stock  of  the  company  or 
other  methods,  to  control  the  output.  In  1891,  a  mine 
was  discovered  one  mile  east  of  the  Dutoitspan  on  the 
farm  of  Mr.  J.  J.  Wessels  in  the  Orange  Free  State, 
which  proved  important.  It  was  at  first  called  the 
Premier,  but  later  was  known  as  the  Wesselton.  This 
mine  has  never  yielded  as  large  a  percentage  of  diamonds 
to  the  load  as  the  Kimberley  and  the  De  Beers,  but  the 
quality  is  exceptionally  fine.  It  was  also  brought  under 
the  control  of  the  Consolidation  and  with  the  Jagers- 
fontein  has  supplied  a  majority  of  the  fine  white  goods 
of  size. 

In  order  to  control  more  perfectly  the  selling  as  well  as 
the  producing  end  of  the  industry,  and  incidentally  to 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     249 

add  to  the  profits  they  already  enjoyed  as  the  largest 
stockholders  in  the  mines,  the  De  Beers  management 
created  out  of  their  number  principally,  another  body 
known  as  "  The  Diamond  Syndicate,"  whose  business 
it  was  to  take  over  the  output  of  the  mines  under  con- 
tract, and  market  the  diamonds.  Having  control  of  the 
diamond  output  of  the  world,  the  next  step  was  to  get 
as  much  for  the  diamonds  as  the  world  would  pay,  and 
it  was  decided  that  a  company  of  men,  in  close  touch  and 
largely  interested  in  the  mines  on  the  one  hand,  and 
equally  familiar  with  the  trade  on  the  other,  would  be 
better  able,  by  advising  the  mines  what  their  output 
should  be,  to  keep  the  market  supplied  at  advancing 
prices  without  endangering  the  advance  by  a  glut,  than 
the  mines  could  do  it  by  continuing  to  sell  direct  at 
Kimberley.  The  plan  was  carried  out  with  remarkable 
shrewdness  and  foresight.  The  contracts  with  the  mines 
permitted  such  large  dividends  to  the  stockholders  that 
the  terms  of  the  contract  between  the  mines  and  the 
syndicate  were  not  questioned,  and  the  stockholders 
were  satisfied  to  receive  whatever  information  the  man- 
agement were  willing  to  give  them.  The  trade  and  the 
public  were  so  well  manipulated  by  the  syndicate,  that 
every  raise  in  the  price  of  the  rough  was  accepted  as  the 
fiat  of  an  irresponsible  and  supreme  authority.  Until 
the  beginning  of  1908  this  syndicate  governed  the  dia- 
mond industry  of  the  world,  not  only  fixing  the  price 
which  buyers  should  pay,  but  the  quantities  they  must 
buy  in  a  parcel.  So  absolutely  did  they  control  the  sit- 
uation that  a  "  sight,"  as  an  opportunity  to  look  at  the 
parcels  of  rough  from  Africa  was  termed,  came  to  be 
regarded  as  a  favor,  and  buyers  almost  begged  for  a 


250  THE  DIAMOND 

chance  to  buy  at  the  sellers'  price  and  terms.  Single 
purchases  must  be  to  the  amount  of  not  less  than  ten 
thousand  pounds,  and  the  terms  were  simply  "  cash." 

This  condition  will  probably  never  exist  again.  There 
are  now  many  diamond  mines  in  South  Africa,  and 
though  comparatively  few  are  of  sufficient  importance 
to  affect  singly  the  decrees  of  the  syndicate,  their  pres- 
ent output  in  the  aggregate  is  sufficiently  large,  and  it 
can  be  made  much  larger.  Some  of  them  do  not  pro- 
duce enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  working;  others  yield 
some  return  on  the  investment,  though  the  output  is  too 
small  to  make  them  of  material  influence  as  factors  in 
the  industry,  but  some  of  the  new  mines  are  greater  than 
any  heretofore  discovered,  and  reports  indicate  that 
more  of  the  same  character  will  be  opened  up  in  other 
fields  in  the  near  future. 

As  separate  chapters  will  be  devoted  to  the  leading 
mines,  only  a  review  of  them  as  contributory  elements 
of  the  African  fields  will  be  made  in  this,  to  give  an  idea 
of  the  extent  of  the  African  fields  in  the  past  and  their 
condition  at  the  present  time.  As  heretofore  explained 
the  term  "  dry  diggings  "  includes  all  mines  in  the  vol- 
canic pipes  or  chimneys,  though  the  diamondiferous  earth 
of  the  dry  diggings  is  now  washed  much  more  thor- 
oughly and  systematically  than  that  of  the  "  wet  dig- 
gings," which  term  is  used  to  designate  diggings  in  al- 
luvial deposits. 

These  vertical  dykes  of  diamondiferous  material  are 
peculiar  to  Africa  and  have  revolutionized  diamond- 
mining.  Prior  to  their  discovery,  diamond-mining 
was  an  uncertainty  in  Africa,  as  in  all  other  countries 
where  diamonds  are -found.  Diamond-mining  was  like 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     251 

searching  for  Indian  arrowheads  in  ploughed  fields  that 
were  once  the  camping  grounds  of  the  Indians,  but  with 
the  discovery  of  the  diamond  pipes,  it  became  a  known 
quantity,  requiring  the  ablest  financiering,  the  greatest 
skill  in  business  and  science,  but  abundantly  sufficient 
to  pay  for  the  best,  and  leave  an  enormous  margin  of 
profit.  One  could  reckon  for  a  thousand  feet  down  in 
the  earth,  how  many  loads  of  material  there  were  in  the 
chimney  and  how  many  carats  of  diamonds  in  the  loads. 
The  cost  of  mining  and  washing  was  known  to  the 
fraction  of  a  penny,  and  the  stones  were  contracted  for 
at  a  fixed  price  long  before  they  were  dug  out  of  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  It  was  no  longer  an  occasional 
find,  but  the  exact  quantity  of  a  known  average.  It 
took  some  years,  however,  to  find  this  out. 

The  size  and  outline  of  the  various  pipes  differ  greatly. 
The  Premier  of  the  Transvaal  is  nearly  eighty  acres  in 
extent;  some  are  quite  small.  The  size  of  the  Kim- 
berley  mines,  when  in  the  early  days  they  were  all 
staked  out  in  claims,  was  reckoned  by  the  number  of 
claims.  There  were  470  in  the  Kimberley;  622  in  the 
De  Beers;  1,067  'm  the  Bultfontein  and  1,441  in  the 
Dutoitspan.  A  rule  in  force  in  the  Kimberley  mines 
in  the  early  days,  similar  to  one  adopted  at  the  wet  dig- 
gings, required  the  digger  to  work  his  claim  uninter- 
ruptedly. If  he  failed  to  do  so  in  eight  days,  the  claim 
could  be  jumped.  This  was  enforced  for  about  two 
years.  Before  the  process  of  amalgamation  set  in,  there 
was  a  period  during  which  the  tendency  was  quite  the 
reverse.  Owners  of  claims  sold  parts  of  them,  and 
there  were  many  owners  of  halves,  quarters,  and  down 
to  one-sixteenth  of  a  full  claim.  In  1874  there  were 


252  THE  DIAMOND 

about  1, 600  owners  on  the  Kimberley.  From  its  dis- 
covery it  had  a  stronger  attraction  for  the  diggers  than 
either  of  the  other  mines. 

Although  the  crude  methods  in  use  during  the  early 
days  allowed  many  stones  of  fair  size  and  nearly  all  the 
very  small  ones,  to  escape  with  the  tailings,  enormous 
profits  were  made  out  of  some  of  the  claims.  Barnato 
claimed  that  he  made  £1,800  per  week  out  of  the  claims 
he  owned  in  the  Kimberley  in  the  seventies. 


CHAPTER  XII 

DIAMOND  MINES   OF  SOUTH   AFRICA  —  CONTINUED 

FROM  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in  Africa  until 
1884,  there  are  no  records  by  which  one  may  know 
with  certainty  what  the  production  was,  either  in  weight 
or  in  value.  The  probability  is  that  up  to  and  including 
1873,  it  was  not  over  one  million  carats.  From  1874 
to  1883,  however,  there  was  a  very  large  increase.  The 
output  ranged  probably  from  a  million  carats  in  1874 
to  something  over  two  million  carats  in  1883  and  possibly 
three  million  carats  each  for  the  years  1881  and  1882. 
From  1884,  official  records  were  kept  of  the  exports 
from  Cape  Town  to  London.  These  show  an  average 
of  close  on  to  three  million  carats  per  annum  for  the 
twenty  years  including  1903,  at  an  average  yearly  value 
of  nearly  twenty-six  and  three-quarter  millions  of  dol- 
lars, the  average  value  per  carat  being  lowest  in  1888 
at  $5.095  and  highest  in  1902  at  $9.922. 

Large  percentages  in  the  yield  of  diamonds  were  re- 
ported in  the  early  days,  of  the  Kimberley  mine  espe- 
cially, and  undoubtedly  there  were  very  rich  streaks 
and  spots  in  the  mine  then  as  now,  but  it  seems  probable 
that  those  reports  give  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  aver- 
age yield  of  the  entire  mine.  If  some  claims  proved 
rich,  others  were  very  poor,  and  before  the  mines  came 
under  one  management,  it  was  probably  the  rich  ones 
that  were  reported.  There  were  also  persistent  rumors 

253 


254  THE  DIAMOND 

that  some  extraordinary  rich  yields  reported  in  the 
early  days,  covered  additions  by  purchase  of  stones 
from  undisclosed  sources.  It  is  generally  acknowl- 
edged that  the  volume  of  illicit  trading  was  very  large, 
and  it  is  equally  certain  that  the  most  successful  traders 
escaped  detection.  As  such  transactions  could  be  con- 
cealed in  no  other  way  so  readily,  nor  the  purchases  be 
disposed  of  so  easily,  the  presumption  is  that  among  so 
many,  some  of  the  claim  owners  took  advantage  of  the 
situation.  There  has  been  an  apparent  decrease  in  the 
yield  per  load  of  most  of  the  mines  as  they  have  been 
carried  deeper.  The  De  Beers  and  Kimberley  have 
steadily  declined  from  over  one  carat  per  load  in  1888 
to  .80  of  a  carat  in  1898  and  .37  in  1908.  The  Du- 
toitspan,  which  from  the  beginning  gave  a  small  average 
yield,  has  nevertheless  held  very  steady,  dropping  by 
one  hundredth  of  a  carat  only  in  the  yearly  average  from 
.26  in  1905  to  .23  in  1908.  When  first  reopened  in  1904 
the  yield  was  only  .12.  The  yield  of  the  Wesselton  also 
has  been  very  uniform,  being  the  same  in  1908  as  it  was 
in  1898,  i.  e.,  .27  of  a  carat  per  load.  In  the  interim  it 
has  never  been  less  than  .28,  and  in  1907  it  was  .32. 
The  Bultfontein  shows  an  increase  from  1902,  when 
the  yield  was  .21  of  a  carat,  to  .41  in  1905,  since  which 
it  dropped  again  to  .32  for  1908.  The  increase  of  the 
first  four  years  after  the  consolidation  began  to  operate 
it,  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  there  was  an  ac- 
cumulation of  poor  material  which  was  first  cleaned 
up.  The  Koffyfontein  runs  even:  .473  in  1906  and  .476 
in  1907. 

Of  the  open-cut  mines,  the  Premier  of  the  Transvaal 
shows  the  greatest  decline  in  average  yield.     In  the  be- 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     255 

ginning,  like  the  Kimberley,  it  was  very  rich,  running 
at  times  over  two  carats  to  the  load;  it  is  now  about  .30 
of  a  carat.  The  Roberts-Victor  also,  which  opened  up 
with  a  yield  of  .91  in  May,  1906,  dropped  to  an  average 
of  .536  for  the  year  1907.  Part  of  this  apparent  de- 
terioration is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  when 
a  mine  is  opened,  especially  if  the  entire  chimney 
is  under  one  management,  the  most  promising  spots 
are  worked  first,  whereas  when  the  mining  is  deeper, 
not  only  must  the  entire  area  be  worked,  but  the  left- 
over part  of  the  higher  levels  have  to  be  taken  down 
and  included.  The  showing  of  the  Premier  and  the 
Roberts-Victor  illustrates  the  probable  conditions  of  the 
Kimberley  when  it  was  first  opened,  but  which  did  not 
appear,  because  there  was  no  exact  report  of  entire  re- 
sults, but  uncertain  returns  from  some  of  the  many 
owners  of  parts  of  the  chimney.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
most  of  the.  mines  eventually  settle  down  to  a  yield  of 
from  one-quarter  to  one-half  of  a  carat  per  load,  espe- 
cially after  the  open  cut  is  abandoned  and  underground 
working  begins,  when  there  is  not  the  same  opportunity 
to  make  selections,  but  good  and  bad  sections  are  worked 
together. 

A  number  of  true  pipes  have  been  discovered.  In  the 
eighties  already,  some  fifteen  were  known  in  the  Kim- 
berley district  and  the  Orange  Free  State.  Many  of 
them,  however,  yielded  but  little,  and  are  comparatively 
unknown.  There  are  several  other  mines  in  addition 
to  the  five  mines  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidation,  in  the 
Kimberley  section.  The  Peizer,  the  New  Weltevrede 
and  the  Frank  Smith,  north-west  of  Kimberley.  In  the 
Orange  River  Colony  are  the  Jagersfontein,  Lace, 


256  THE  DIAMOND 

Koffyfontein,  Monastery,  Kaalvallei,  New  Driekopjes, 
New  Randfontein  Reef,  Voorspoed  and  Roberts-Victor. 
The  Elandsdrift  Diamond  Mining  Company  and  a  smaller 
company,  are  on  a  large  pipe  in  the  heart  of  the  Vaal 
River  diamond  country.  Near  Pretoria  in  the  Trans- 
vaal are  the  Premier,  Schuller,  Kaalfontein,  Montrose 
and  Beynespoort.  Of  all  these,  the  most  important  are 
the  Jagersfontein,  Premier,  Roberts-Victor  and  Voors- 
poed. The  output  for  these  four  mines  for  1907  being: 

Carats. 

Premier    1,889,986^ 

Jagersfontein     219,275 

Roberts-Victor 132,809 

Voorspoed    46,340      (for  six  months) 

An  idea  of  the  enormous  quantity  of  diamonds  taken 
from  the  chief  producers  on  the  diamond  pipes  of  Af- 
rica during  the  last  ten  years  may  be  obtained  from  the 
following  table: 

1898  De    Beers    group 2,792,606  cts. 

Jagersfontein     232,433        9     3,025,039 

1899  De  Beers  group 2,932,228 

Jagersfontein    288,937 

Koffyfontein 40,170               3,261,135 

1900  De    Beers    group 1,221,726 

Jagersfontein    183,399 

Koffyfontein    30,564               1,435,689 

1901  De  Beers  group 2,498,496 

Jagersfontein    18,002 

Koffyfontein    16,847               2,532,955 

1902  De  Beers  group 2,631,189 

Lace    16,562 

Koffyfontein    2,442               2,650,193 

1903  De  Beers  group 2,527,035 

Jagersfontein    29,302 

Lace   38,899 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     257 

1903  Koffyf ontein    16,738  cts. 

Premier    93,2Q31A            2,705,177^ 

1904  De  Beers  group 2,456,050 

Jagersfontein    167,593 

Ram  fersdam    27,467 

Koffyfontein    22,384 

Lace    20,029 

Frank  Smith   7465 

Premier    749,653^           3,450,641^2 

1905  De  Beers  group 2,310,376 

Jagersfontein    266,225 

Kamfersdam    39,562 

Koffyfontein    18,190 

Frank  Smith  15,458 

Lace    2,905 

Premier     845,652               3,498,368 

1906  De  Beers  group 2,215,394 

Jagersfontein    255,841 

Kamfersdam    42,041 

Koffyfontein     33,34O 

Lace    27,992 

Roberts-Victor 20,406 

Premier    899,746               3,5o8,2!0 

1907  De  Beers  group 2,619,870 

Jagersfontein    219,275 

Roberts-Victor    132,809 

Voorspoed  (6  mo.)   46,340 

Lace    41,418 

Koffyfontein    31,604 

Kamfersdam    21,715 

Premier    1,889,986^  5,003,017^ 

A  total  of  nearly  thirty-one  million  carats,  to  which 
may  be  added,  in  order  to  make  a  fair  estimate  of  the 
entire  production  of  South  Africa  in  the  ten  years,  five 
per  cent,  for  thefts  and  the  product  of  the  alluvial  de- 
posits and  other  sources;  a  grand  total  of  thirty-two 
and  a  half  million  carats.  At  the  same  time  (1907),  the 
De  Beers  group  alone  had  in  sight  above  the  lower  levels 

17 


25  8  THE  DIAMOND 

of  the  mines  and  on  the  floors,  57,409,013  loads  of  blue, 
which  at  present  average  yield  would  represent  in  round 
figures  over  seventeen  million  carats  more.  Reckoning 
the  value  of  the  output  for  the  ten  years  upon  a  basis 
of  the  average  price  realized  by  the  De  Beers  group, 
during  that  time,  South  African  diamonds  must  have 
realized  over  seventy-eight  million  pounds  sterling. 

Even  these  stupendous  figures  do  not  give  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  reservoir  of  diamonds  which  exists  in 
Africa.  How  deep  these  diamond  chimneys  now  being 
worked,  go,  is  still  unknown,  and  reports  are  constantly 
coming  in  of  new  pipes  discovered,  and  of  large  fields 
of  alluvial  deposits  which  indicate  the  existence  of  other 
pipes  yet  undiscovered.  The  source  of  the  Vaal  river 
diamonds  cannot  be  from  the  Kimberley  mines,  as  a 
ridge  intervenes.  The  drainage  also  of  the  Wesselton, 
Bultfontein,  and  Dutoitspan  is  in  another  direction. 
The  stones  also  differ  in  appearance.  It  would  appear, 
therefore,  that  the  source  of  the  river  diamonds  has  not 
yet  been  discovered.  The  chairman,  at  a  general  meet- 
ing of  the  Option  Syndicate,  held  in  London  lately, 
said  that  Mr.  Nichols,  an  engineer  sent  expressly  to 
Rhodesia  to  prospect  that  territory,  proved  by  numerous 
borings  the  existence  of  deposits  greater  in  area  than  the 
De  Beers  and  Premier.  Diamond-mining  is  increasing 
in  German  Southwest  Africa,  and  the  indications  are, 
after  making  full  allowance  for  the  hopefulness  of  pros- 
pectors and  the  imagination  of  promoters,  that  the  im- 
mense territory  of  Griqualand,  Orange  River  Colony, 
the  Transvaal,  Rhodesia  and  contiguous  land,  is  honey- 
combed with  diamondi  ferous  chimneys,  with  many  miles 
of  alluvial  deposits  lying  between  them. 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     259 

The  following  illustrates  the  changes  which  have  oc- 
curred in  the  method  of  diamond-mining  in  South  Af- 
rica in  the  last  thirty  years.  Up  till  1877,  one  person 
could  have  but  two  claims  in  the  Kimberley  unless  he 
was  the  discoverer  of  a  mine,  in  which  case  he  was  enti- 
tled to  hold  two  in  addition  to  his  discovery.  In  the 
beginning  of  1909  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
Company  practically  own  and  control  the  De  Beers,  Kim- 
berley, Bultfontein,  Dutoitspan,  Wesselton  and  Jagers- 
fontein  mines  entire.  In  the  seventies  there  were  about 
sixteen  hundred  individual  owners  of  the  Kimberley,  the 
smallest  chimney  of  the  Kimberley  group.  The  New 
Premier  of  the  Transvaal,  more  than  four  times  as  large 
as  the  whole  Kimberley  mine,  and  equipped  now  to 
turn  out  three  to  four  million  carats  per  annum,  was 
opened  up  and  is  owned  by  a  single  company  capital- 
ized at  eighty  thousand  pounds.  A  digger  in  the  Kim- 
berley could  take  up  his  choice  of  the  free  claims,  by 
paying  a  tax  of  ten  shillings  a  week;  the  De  Beers  Con- 
solidated Mines  Company  paid  in  1908  a,  tax  on  the 
profits  of  1907  to  the  Cape  Colony  amounting  to  £302,- 
174. 

Looking  backward,  one  realizes  that  the  change  from 
separate  ownerships  to  the  united  control  or  single  man- 
agement of  an  entire  chimney  was  inevitable.  When 
with  increasing  depth  the  reef  began  to  fall  in,  covering 
up  claims  sometimes  with  millions  of  cubic  feet  of  worth- 
less material  which  must  be  taken  out  at  enormous  ex- 
pense before  any  further  returns  could  be  had  from 
the  buried  claims,  the  miners  found  that  some  united 
action  was  necessary  to  insure  themselves  against  disas- 
ters which  threatened  all,  and  would  be  ruinous  to  those 


26o  THE  DIAMOND 

who  chanced  to  be  the  unfortunate  ones.  The  Kim- 
berley  Mining  Board  was  therefore  established  in  1874, 
to  remedy  all  mishaps,  and  assess  the  cost  upon  all  the 
owners  pro  rata.  Thereafter  each  one  was  obliged  to 
pay  his  share  of  these  expenditures  for  the  common  in- 
terests, or  sell  his  claims.  This  resulted  in  the  sale  of 
many  claims,  usually  to  companies  who  were  in  a  better 
financial  position  to  pay  these  big  charges  and  wait  for 
the  profits  which  would  accrue  later.  And  as  these  com- 
panies acquired  more  claims,  if  one  was  covered  by 
fallen  reef,  they  had  others  from  which  they  could  be 
drawing  money  to  offset  the  charges  made  upon  them, 
whereas  if  a  man's  single  claim  were  buried,  his  income 
with  which  to  pay  charges  was  buried  with  it. 

The  consolidation  of  the  mines  was  therefore  a  re- 
sult of  the  force  of  circumstances,  for  which  shrewd 
men  on  the  fields,  who  foresaw  what  the  trend  of  things 
must  lead  to,  prepared  themselves  financially,  both  by 
husbanding  their  own  resources,  and  also  by  establish- 
ing connections  with  men  of  large  capital.  This  was 
done  in  a  smaller  way  in  the  Kimberley  by  Barney  Bar- 
nato,  simply  as  a  money-making  affair,  and  on  a  larger 
scale  by  Cecil  J.  Rhodes  when  he  forced  an  amalgamation 
of  all  the  Kimberley  mines. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  and  power  of  the  De  Beers 
Consolidated  Mines  Company  may  be  had  from  the  state- 
ment of  Mr.  Gardner  J.  Williams,  the  former  manager, 
that  it  occupies  200,000  acres,  employs  15,000  natives 
and  2,500  white  men;  (in  1906  the  five  mines  em- 
ployed nearly  24,000  natives,  but  owing  to  the  1907 
panic  in  the  United  States,  the  number  of  employees 
had  been  reduced  by  the  end  of  1908  to  12,278),  con- 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     261 

sumed  monthly  in  the  compounds  250,000  fbs.  of  mut- 
ton, 200,000  Ibs.  of  beef;  uses  6,000  tons  of  coal  a 
day;  has  2,000  horses  and  mules,  and  keeps  12  stallions 
of  the  best  breeds  and  200  brood  mares,  and  this  in  a 
country  that  a  little  over  thirty  years  ago  was  over  four 
hundred  miles  from  the  nearest  railroad  and  port,  and 
was  obliged  to  transport  most  of  the  necessities  through 
an  undeveloped  country  by  ox  or  mule  wagons.  At 
that  time  coal  cost  at  the  diggings  eighty  dollars  per  ton; 
wood,  one  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents  per  one  hun- 
dred fbs. ;  eggs  were  seventy-five  cents  a  dozen.  The 
first  machinery  used  cost  fabulous  prices.  A  hundred 
horse-power  engine  cost  forty  thousand  dollars  delivered 
in  Kimberley.  Transportation  from  Port  Elizabeth  or 
Cape  Town  ranged  from  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  to 
seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  hundred  pounds. 
Wages  were  also  very  high.  White  men  in  the  mines 
got  from  twenty  to  forty  dollars  per  week;  natives  five 
to  eight  dollars.  In  the  seventies,  as  the  companies  being 
floated  sought  to  acquire  properties,  the  price  of  claims 
soared  until  some  of  them  brought  as  high  as  fifty,  sev- 
enty-five thousand  dollars,  and  even  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  each. 

Washing  machines  were  first  used  in  1874  and  not- 
withstanding the  great  cost,  more  machines  were  intro- 
duced from  year  to  year,  as  they  were  found  to  earn 
many  times  the  cost,  in  the  saving  of  labor  and  the  in- 
crease of  yield  and  production. 

After  the  railroads  from  Cape  Town  and  Port  Eliz- 
abeth were  brought  into  Kimberley  in  1885,  prices  fell. 
English  coal  could  then  be  had  for  forty  dollars  per 
ton;  wood  for  fifty  cents  per  hundred  pounds.  Freight 


262  THE  DIAMOND 

rates  dropped  to  about  $1.50  to  $2.00  per  hundred  Ifos. 
Wages  fell.  At  present,  they  range  in  all  the  mines, 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  dollars  per  month  and  lodg- 
ing for  natives,  and  sixty  to  one  hundred  dollars  per 
month  for  whites  in  the  mines  and  prospecting. 

All  the  diamond  chimneys  of  South  Africa  contain  the 
same  kind  of  rock,  now  called  kimberlite,  and  wher- 
ever that  rock  is  found  it  contains  more  or  less  dia- 
monds. The  hardness  of  it  varies  in  different  mines, 
but  it  usually  grows  harder  with  depth.  For  this  reason 
open-cut  workings  have  an  additional  advantage  in  cost 
over  those  operated  on  the  underground  system.  In  the 
underground  workings,  shafts  are  sunk  in  the  reef 
about  two  or  three  hundred  feet  from  the  chimney,  and 
tunnels  cut  from  them  into  the  kimberlite,  which  is  run 
out  on  cars  and  hoisted  to  the  surface.  Taken  from 
these  low  levels  the  rock  is  hard  and  not  fit  for  the  wash- 
ers. It  is  therefore  spread  out  on  "  floors";  large  level 
stretches  of  ground,  and  exposed  to  the  weather.  The 
rain  and  sun  disintegrate  the  rock  and  make  it  friable. 
Six  to  twelve  months  are  usually  given  to  this  opera- 
tion, though  it  is  sometimes  hastened  by  sprinkling  and 
harrowing.  Near  the  surface,  the  rock  is  softer  and 
does  not  require  any  exposure.  An  open-cut  mine  saves 
this  expense.  The  New  Premier  runs  its  diamondifer- 
ous  material,  which  is  unusually  friable,  direct  from  the 
mine  to  the  washers,  and  as  it  is  very  much  greater  in 
extent  than  any  other,  it  will  have  this  advantage  over 
the  older  mines  for  some  time  to  come.  While  they 
are  constantly  increasing  the  depth  and  consequent  cost 
of  working,  the  Premier  will  simply  spread  itself  over 
a  greater  area  of  workings,  in  material  that  will  not  re- 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     263 

quire  the  cost  of  spreading,  nor  the  loss  of  time  in 
weathering. 

Though  the  kimberlite  of  all  the  mines  is  the  same, 
the  diamonds  from  the  various  chimneys  are  so  char- 
acterized by  differences,  that  men  acquainted  with  the 
mines  can  usually  tell  from  which  mine  a  parcel  of  crys- 
tals comes.  Some  have  claimed  that  there  are  those  who 
can  designate  not  only  the  mine  but  the  part  of  the 
mine  from  which  any  crystal  submitted  to  them,  was 
taken,  but  this  is  an  exaggeration,  for  though  the  stones 
from  the  different  mines  are  generally  characterized  by 
certain  peculiarities,  all  kinds  of  stones  are  taken  from 
all  mines.  The  Kimberley,  though  rich  in  diamonds, 
has  been  distinguished  by  generally  poor  quality.  This 
mine  has  furnished  a  much  larger  percentage  of  bort 
than  the  other  mines  of  that  district.  Great  quantities 
of  fragments  of  crystals,  smoky  stones  and  yellow  stones, 
have  been  found  in  it  and  the  different  kinds  were  quite 
constant  in  particular  sections  of  the  mine.  It  is  notice- 
able that  the  part  of  the  mine  which  lies  in  the  direction 
of  the  Dutoitspan,  carries  a  similar  class  of  crystals. 

In  the  De  Beers,  one  finds  all  kinds  and  colors,  but 
the  surface  of  the  natural  facets  are  finely  granulated, 
and  have  a  somewhat  greasy  luster  similar  to  the  luster 
of  many  of  the  cut  Premiers.  As  in  the  Kimberley, 
fragments  are  abundant,  but  there  is  less  bort  and  the 
crystals  run  larger  and  have  more  color  (yellow)  than 
those  of  the  Kimberley. 

The  diamonds  of  the  Bultfontein  are  mostly  small, 
white,  flawy  octahedrons. 

The  Dutoitspan  diamonds  show  more  color  than  any, 
many  of  them  being  sufficiently  deep  and  fine  to  be  classed 


264  THE  DIAMOND 

as  fancies.  Large  and  also  very  small  stones  are  found, 
and  the  crystallization  is  usually  very  good. 

The  Wesselton  crystals  are  noted  for  their  perfect 
octahedra  and  purity.  The  color  and  brilliancy  are  so 
superior  that  very  fine  white  diamonds  similar  to  river 
goods  are  now  quoted  as  Wesselton.  The  average  yield 
of  the  mine  does  not  however  command  as  good  a  price 
as  that  of  several  others. 

The  kimberlite  of  the  Jagersfontein  mine  is  free  from 
pyrites,  and  to  that  is  attributed  the  remarkable  purity 
of  color  for  which  the  stones  of  this  mine  are  celebrated. 
They  are  very  brilliant  and  the  color  inclines  to  blue. 
For  this  reason,  "  Jagers"  command  the  highest  price  of 
any  South  African  diamonds,  except  blue  rivers  and 
some  of  the  fancies  of  the  Dutoitspan.  In  common  with 
all  stones  of  this  character,  they  are  very  subject  to  bad 
flaws  and  what  are  termed  carbon  spots.  The  per- 
centage of  flawy  stones  is  so  great  that  the  average  price 
of  rough  from  this  mine  is  less  than  that  of  several 
others. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  diamonds  of  the  New 
Premier  of  the  Transvaal  is  bort.  Of  those  suitable  for 
gem  purposes,  many  are  characterized  by  an  oily  luster 
similar  to  that  of  the  zircon.  The  color  inclines  to  blue, 
often  of  a  very  deep  tint,  but  it  is  frequently  a  false 
color,  that  is,  tints  of  other  colors  show  in  some  lights. 
An  unusual  number  of  very  large  stones  has  been  found 
in  this  mine,  some  of  them  of  extremely  fine  color  and 
purity. 

The  Voorspoed  promises  to  be  a  large  producer  of  low 
grade  diamonds.  The  Roberts  Victor  on  the  contrary 
yields  a  good  average  of  white  fine  material.  The  dia- 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     265 

monds  of  one  mine,  the  Leicester,  differ  from  those  of 
any  other.  The  crystals  are  cross-grained  and  have  a 
frosted,  etched  appearance.  They  are  difficult  to  cut. 
These  marked  variations  between  the  diamonds  of  dif- 
ferent mines  suggest  not  only  a  difference  in  the  forces 
causing  the  crystallization,  but  the  presence  in  some 
cases  of  elements  in  varying  degrees  and  conditions, 
which  were  absent  in  others  during  the  process  of  crys- 
tallization. 

Following  the  methods  of  India  and  Brazil,  it  is  cus- 
tomary in  Africa  to  encourage  diligence  and  honesty 
among  the  workers  in  the  mines  by  a  system  of  rewards. 
If  a  white  miner  finds  a  diamond  in  the  blue  while  it  is 
yet  in  the  mine,  and  reports  it  to  the  manager,  he  is 
credited  with  three  shillings  per  carat,  a  native  gets 
six  pence  per  carat.  If  the  stone  is  found  on  the  floors, 
the  reward  is  one-half  as  much.  The  I.  D.  B.  act,  which 
did  not  permit  a  native  to  have  a  diamond  in  his  pos- 
session, and  obliged  a  suspected  white  man  to  prove  his 
right  to  possess  any  he  might  have,  if  it  did  not  en- 
courage honesty,  did  much  to  discourage  dishonesty. 
Some  of  the  natives,  however,  are  such  inveterate  thieves, 
that  cases  have  been  known  where,  with  little  chance 
of  getting  away  with  them,  they  have  swallowed  so 
many  that  death  resulted.  It  is  reported  that  sixty 
carats  of  diamonds  were  taken  from  the  body  of  one 
who  died  under  suspicion.  The  compound  system  in- 
augurated by  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company 
is  the  greatest  preventive.  The  natives  are  obliged  to 
sign  a  three  months'  contract,  during  which  period  they 
must  remain  in  an  enclosure  on  the  company's  premises. 
This  is  a  large  square  of  about  twenty  acres,  surrounded 


266  THE  DIAMOND 

by  rows  of  one  story  buildings  of  corrugated  iron, 
divided  into  rooms,  each  holding  about  twenty  natives. 
Every  provision  is  made  for  their  health  and  well  being. 
There  are  stores  which  sell  the  necessaries  of  life  at 
reduced  prices.  Wood  and  water  are  supplied  free  of 
charge.  There  is  also  a  hospital  with  medical  attention, 
nurses  and  food,  free.  There  is  a  large  swimming  bath 
in  the  enclosure,  also  a  space  for  games,  dances,  con- 
certs, or  any  amusement  the  natives  may  desire.  Some 
of  them  save  their  wages,  giving  it  to  the  superintendent 
to  keep  for  them,  quite  content  if  he  will  show  them 
the  money  when  they  ask  to  see  it.  Many  of  them  re- 
new their  contracts  again  and  again  without  leaving  the 
compound;  some  of  the  married  men  do  the  same,  send- 
ing money  to  their  wives  from  time  to  time.  Before 
leaving  the  compound  they  are  subjected  to  a  rigorous 
bodily  examination,  and  held  sufficiently  long  to  make 
swallowing  diamonds  useless.  Men  of  the  various 
tribes  represented  keep  to  themselves.  There  are  some 
of  almost  every  tribe,  Kaffirs,  Hottentots,  Zulus,  Griquas, 
Fingus,  Basutos,  Matabilis,  Bechuanas,  Swazis,  Koranas 
and  others. 

The  prices  obtained  for  Cape  rough  diamonds  up  till 
the  time  when  the  De  Beers  Consolidation  was  formed, 
cannot  be  definitely  stated.  Prior  to  that  the  market 
was  open,  assortments  were  not  nearly  as  close  as  later, 
and  ideas  of  value  from  former  conditions  yet  pre- 
vailed. India  and  Brazil  produced  few  stones  of  great 
size,  therefore  large  stones  brought  a  big  advance  per 
carat  over  those  of  ordinary  size.  This  idea  of  rela- 
tive value  influenced  prices  for  some  years,  until  the 
abundance  of  large  stones  found  in  the  African  mines 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     267 

forced  a  readjustment  of  the  comparative  values  of 
sizes.  Though  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  method  of 
reckoning  the  value  of  diamonds  by  the  square  of  the 
weight  at  a  base  price  ever  existed  except  as  a  trade 
fable  furnished  to  writers,  large  stones  did  command 
very  large  prices  from  the  public,  and  much  more  pro- 
portionately than  now,  from  the  trade.  But  definite 
prices  for  any  size  or  color  did  not  exist  until  the  De 
Beers  Consolidation.  Competition,  a  variable  demand, 
and  many  men  new  to  the  industry,  both  at  the  produc- 
ing and  selling  ends,  conspired  to  make  many  irregu- 
larities and  constant  variations  in  price.  Nor  was  the 
rough  as  closely  assorted  as  it  has  been  since  the  Dia- 
mond Syndicate  undertook  to  market  the  product  of 
the  mines.  In  these  days  a  parcel  of  rough  will  cut  very 
close  to  what  it  is  sold  for;  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Kimberley  there  was  often  a  wide  range  of  color  and 
perfection  in  a  lot.  The  average  price  received  by  the 
various  producing  mines  of  the  De  Beers  consolida- 
tion up  to  and  including  1907  are  as  follows: 


1889 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 

The  average  of  some  of  the  independent  mines  is  said 
to  be  as  follows : 


De. 

B. 

&  K. 

Wesselton 

Jagersfontein 

Bultfontein 

Dutoitspan 

253, 

26s. 

6 

.2  d. 

20S. 

9-3  d. 

33s. 

3-1  d. 

295. 

7 

.2  d. 

22S. 

10.  i  d. 

33s. 

6.3  d. 

35S. 

10 

.2  d. 

253. 

0.2  d. 

403. 

9.1  d. 

39s. 

7 

d. 

273. 

3-7  d. 

4is. 

2.3  d. 

46s. 

5 

.7d. 

33s. 

5-9  d. 

3os. 

4-7d. 

48s. 

6 

•  3d. 

34S. 

4-    d 

54S. 

2.6  d. 

3os. 

10 

.2  d. 

48s. 

ii 

.8  d. 

34S. 

10.4  d. 

66s. 

3-7  d. 

293. 

7 

.7d. 

52S. 

10 

d. 

36s. 

ii.  i  d. 

6is. 

5-9  d. 

34S. 

ii 

.i8d. 

69s. 

i  id. 

6is. 

0 

.iid. 

43s. 

9.2&d. 

633. 

4-  3d. 

42S. 

ii 

•49d. 

8os. 

iid. 

64s. 

9 

d. 

4is. 

1.3.  d. 

7is. 

6.6gd. 

43S. 

6 

•34d. 

79S. 

6  d. 

268  THE  DIAMOND 

Premier1  Roberts-Victor  Lace  Voorspoed 

1905  233.    6.3d.  753.  403. 

1906  28s.  10. 7d.  6$s  to  753. 

1907  i8s.    o.2d.  303. 

1908  143.    g.4d.J 

The  prices  are  the  average  for  the  output  of  the  mines, 
and  cover  a  wide  range  of  prices  for  the  various  quali- 
ties. They  are  also  the  prices  paid  to  the  mines  by  the 
Diamond  Syndicate,  as  there  was  little  selling  inde- 
pendent of  the  Syndicate  until  1908.  Nor  do  these 
prices  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  value  of  the  mines  as 
producers,  because  that  depends  largely  on  the  yield  per 
load  and  the  cost  of  mining.  Mr.  G.  A.  Hay,  presiding 
officer  at  a  meeting  of  the  Roberts-Victor  Company  early 
in  1907,  gave  the  value  of  diamonds  in  the  blue  of  vari- 
ous mines  per  100  loads  as  follows: 

Roberts-Victor    £260 

De  Beers  &  Kimberley 123 

Dutoitspan    .r  . .     99 

Bultfontein     77 

Premier 45 

Jagersfontein     38 

Voorspoed    26 

Lace    24 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Jagersfontein,  which  pro- 
duces the  finest  diamonds  of  any,  yields  a  money  value 
per  load  of  blue  much  less  than  the  De  Beers  and  Kim- 
berley, which  give  a  much  poorer  grade  of  diamonds, 
and  only  about  one-seventh  of  the  new  Roberts- Victor, 
which  yields  a  large  percentage  and  good  quality  both. 
It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  this  difference  will  long  exist, 
as  the  average  yield  of  the  Roberts- Victor  has  fallen 
fast ;  nevertheless,  like  other  new  mines,  it  can  be  worked 
at  much  less  cost  than  the  older  ones.  This  mine  from 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     269 

May,  1906,  when  it  was  opened,  to  the  end  of  December, 
showed  a  profit,  after  paying  all  the  expense  of  prospect- 
ing, developing,  mining  operations  and  registration,  of 
£39,045  from  20,406  carats  found. 

One  of  the  most  important  processes  in  winning  dia- 
monds from  the  matrix  is  the  weathering.  The  "  blue  " 
of  nearly  all  dry  diggings  is  refractory.  It  is  about  as 
hard  as  sandstone.  It  was  found,  however,  that  ex- 
posure to  the  weather  crumbled  it  so  that  it  could  be 
washed  without  further  preparation.  Level  pieces  of 
ground  hardened  by  heavy  rollers  were  enclosed  con- 
venient to  the  mines,  tracks  laid,  and  the  blue  as  it  was 
taken  out  of  the  mine,  was  loaded  on  cars  and  carried 
to  these  depositing  floors  or  "  Floors  "  as  they  are  called, 
where  it  was  spread  and  left  exposed  to  the  weather. 
According  to  the  nature  of  the  blue,  which  varies  in 
hardness,  it  takes  from  two  to  twelve  months  to  make 
it  sufficiently  friable  for  the  washers.  An  abundance  of 
rain  with  hot  sunny  days  intervening,  hastens  the 
process,  and  if  rains  fail,  the  miners  sometimes  water 
and  harrow  it.  That  there  may  be  no  interruption  to 
the  work  of  the  washers,  it  is  customary  to  keep  suffi- 
cient blue  on  the  floors  at  all  times  for  two  seasons'  work. 
If  the  work  of  mining  were  at  any  time  suspended,  a 
mine  could  nevertheless  turn  out  a  full  year's  supply 
of  diamonds,  after  the  mine  was  shut  down.  In  1906 
the  De  Beers  mines  had  8,300,000  loads  on  the  floors. 

When  the  blue  is  sufficiently  weathered,  it  is  put  on 
trucks  and  taken  to  the  washing  machines,  where  it  is 
agitated  with  water,  and  forced  through  a  series  of  re- 
volving cylinders  perforated  with  holes  one  inch  in 
diameter.  Lumps  which  resist  the  process  are  returned 


270  THE  DIAMOND 

to  the  floors  or  sent  to  the  crushing  rollers.  The  gravel 
which  is  left  from  the  washing  is  worth  about  £150 
per  load.  A  load  of  the  blue  as  it  went  in  would  be 
worth  about  303.  The  gravel  is  then  sent  to  the 
pulsators:  steel  sieves  with  holes  from  one-sixteenth  to 
five-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  which  separate  the 
sizes.  The  small  sizes  are  conveyed  to  a  washing  pan 
and  the  larger  ones  to  revolving  picking  tables,  where 
the  large  diamonds  are  taken  out.  All  the  remaining 
stones  then  go  to  the  grease-shaking  tables.  In  1897 
an  employee  of  the  De  Beers  named  Fred  Kirsten 
noticed  that  of  all  the  minerals  contained  in  the  blue, 
only  diamonds  would  adhere  to  grease.  This  resulted 
in  a  machine  which  not  only  separates  the  diamonds 
mechanically  much  more  rapidly  than  it  could  be  done 
by  hand,  but  surely  secures  all  that  are  present,  however 
small  they  may  be,  and  prevents  opportunity  for  theft. 
It  consists  of  a  series  of  sloping  corrugated  iron  tables 
which  are  coated  with  grease  and  shaken  by  percussion 
as  the  gravel  goes  over  them.  Everything  but  the  dia- 
monds passes  on,  they  alone  adhere  to  the  grease.  The 
tables  are  then  cleaned,  and  the  process  repeated.  It 
is  said  the  grease,  after  being  used  awhile,  loses  its 
power  over  the  diamonds,  but  regains  it  after  being 
melted.  The  crystals  are  then  cleaned  in  a  mixture  of 
acids,  assorted,  weighed,  registered,  and  added  to  the 
stock  in  readiness  for  shipment.  As  a  precaution,  the 
grease  tables  are  arranged  in  series,  though  a  diamond 
seldom  escapes  the  first  table;  about  one-third  of  one 
per  cent.  only.  It  is  said  none  ever  yet  got  past  the 
second. 

Perhaps     nothing     illustrates     more     strikingly     the 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     271 

potency  of  conditions  in  the  United  States,  than  the 
effect  of  the  panic  here  in  November,  1907,  upon  the  dia- 
mond mines  of  South  Africa.  The  De  Beers  closed 
down  a  large  part  of  their  works  in  1908;  reduced  their 
expenses  £100,000  per  month;  to  avoid  the  British  in- 
come tax,  turned  their  London  headquarters  into  an 
office  for  the  transfer  of  shares  only,  transferring  their 
headquarters  to  Kimberley,  and  borrowed  a  million 
pounds  on  the  security  of  their  investments.  It  paid 
the  Cape  Colony  £302,174  as  a  tax  on  its  profits  for 
1907,  and  estimated  the  tax  for  1908,  including  the 
British  income  tax  to  April  i,  at  £110,683  only.  The 
Jagersfontein  reported  sales  to  March  31,  1908,  at  535. 
id.  as  against  715.  formerly.  Premier  goods  dropped 
from  1 8s.  per  carat  to  145.,  and  the  big  Transvaal  mine 
cut  down  its  production  some  thirty  thousand  loads 
monthly.  The  Diamond  Syndicate  did  not  renew  its 
arrangement  with  the  Premier  to  market  the  diamonds 
of  that  mine,  nor  did  it  exercise  its  option  with  the  Con- 
solidated Mines  on  December  21,  1907,  thereby  terminat- 
ing its  contract,  and  it  is  claimed  on  good  authority, 
that  contrary  to  the  policy  steadily  maintained  hereto- 
fore, of  holding  the  market  price  of  diamonds,  it  made 
sales  during  1908  at  a  cut  on  1907  prices.  According 
to  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung,  the  De  Beers  Consolidated 
made  sales  to  the  Syndicate  early  in  the  fall  of  1908  at 
a  25  per  cent,  reduction. 

Among  the  valuable  items  of  information  gathered 
by  experience  in  the  mines  is  one  relating  to  timber.  It 
has  been  found  that  California  redwood  outlasts  any 
other  wood  used.  Redwood  sleepers  after  being  ten 
years  in  the  ground  proved  to  be  as  sound  as  when 


272  THE  DIAMOND 

first  put  in,  whereas  those  of  Oregon  pine,  Puget 
Sound  cedar,  African  yellow  wood,  and  Baltic  deals, 
were  decayed  and  had  to  be  replaced. 

Compared  with  the  yield  of  the  dry  diggings,  that  of 
the  wet  diggings  are  and  have  been  since  the  first  dis- 
covery   of    the    chimneys,    inconsiderable,    nevertheless 
they  are  worked  to-day  as  they  have  been  from  the  first. 
It  does  not  require  much  capital  to  search  for  diamonds 
along  the  rivers,  and  there  is  a  fascination  about  its  un- 
certain results  which  holds  many  men  to  the  work,  and 
constantly  draws  recruits.     The  diamonds   are  usually 
of  finer  quality  than  those  found  in  the  chimneys,  and 
sufficient   large   ones   are    found   to    excite   expectation 
among  those  who  haunt  the  river  diggings.     In  October, 
1907,  a  man  named  Harrison  found  one  weighing  31^4 
carats,    at    Klipdam    in    the    Vaal    river   fields.     Three 
weeks   later  he    found   another   which  weighed   22Ol/2 
carats.     This  he  sold  for  £2,420,  and  it  is  reported  that 
it  is  worth  more.     A  number  of  large  stones  have  been 
found  in  these  river  diggings,  among  them,  the  Star  of 
South  Africa,  of  the  finest  quality,  weighing  83^  carats, 
at   Klipdrift,   and  the   Stewart,   which  weighed  288^3 
carats,    at   Waldeck's    Plant,    both   on   the   Vaal   river. 
Diamonds  have  been  found  in  wet  diggings  along  the 
Vaal,  Vet,  Modder  and  Orange  rivers.     On  the  Vaal 
the  diggings  extend  over  a  distance  of  about  200  miles 
as  the  river  winds,  from  the  junction  of  the  Vaal  with 
the  Orange  river,  to  Bloemhof  in  the  Transvaal.     Some 
of  the  principal  points  are  Waldeck's  Plant,  Delport's 
Hope  at  the  junction    of    the  Vaal  and  Hart   rivers, 
Good   Hope,   Barkly  West,    Pniel,   Klipdam,   Wedburg, 
Fourteen  Streams,  and  from  Hebron  to  Bloemhof  and 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     273 

Christiana.  There  are  a  few  companies,  but  a  majority 
of  the  miners  are  independent  diggers.  The  work  is 
done  by  Kaffirs,  and  the  white  men  oversee  them. 

The  terraces  and  river  gravels  vary  in  depth  from  a 
few  inches  to  40  or  50  feet.  In  Smith's  Gully  at  Wai- 
deck's  Plant,  the  diamondiferous  material  was  found, 
on  reopening  it  after  the  Boer  war,  to  be  75  feet  deep. 
In  some  cases  these  deposits  extend  laterally  three  or 
four  miles  from  the  river,  and  in  places  there  appears 
to  have  been  more  than  one  period  of  sedimentation; 
the  pebbles  in  the  last  have  a  matrix  of  stiff  siliceous 
clay.  In  the  gravels  are  large  greenstone  bowlders  filled 
between  with  sand  and  pebbles,  the  whole  resting  on  a 
floor  of  amygdaloidal  greenstone.  The  pebbles  are 
principally  siliceous;  jasper,  chalcedony,  agate,  and  with 
them,  greenstone,  ironstone,  ilmenite,  garnet,  topaz  and 
diamond.  The  diamonds  are  usually  dodecahedral  crys- 
tals, free  from  flaws.  All  colors  are  found,  though  a 
yellowish  tint  predominates.  Mr.  T.  E.  Coe  says  that 
the  deep  places  are  the  result  of  a  period  of  great  ero- 
sion, as  the  steep  channels  were  worn  through  hard 
diabase  and  were  filled  with  sand,  pebbles,  and  bowlders 
much  rolled  and  smooth.  In  some  cases  this  deposit 
was  overlain  with  red  sand,  the  "  rooi-grond  "of  the 
early  Dutch  digger.  The  bed  rock  of  these  deep  places 
consists  of  Karoo  shale  on  a  bed  of  amygdaloidal  diabase. 
The  diamonds  are  not  distributed  uniformly  through  the 
deposit,  but  are  found  in  "bantam"  layers;  beds  of 
smooth  pebbles  of  moderate  size. 

The  Zaud  deposit  near  the  Wedburg  placers  has  an 
unusually  thick  layer  of  the  surface  sand  in  which  most 
of  the  early  wet  diggings  was  done.  Now,  where  open 

18 


274  THE  DIAMOND 

working  is  not  practicable,  shafts  are  sunk  to  the  lower 
layers  of  gravel,  which  are  richest  in  diamonds,  and  it 
is  taken  out  by  tunneling. 

From  the  nature  of  it,  the  yield  of  an  alluvial  deposit 
is  uncertain  and  irregular.  Mr.  T.  E.  Coe  stated  that 
116  carats  of  diamonds  were  taken  at  the  Zaud  Kopje 
in  the  first  two  months  of  1903,  from  1,340  loads  of 
gravel.  This  would  equal  only  0.087  of  a  carat  per 
load,  but  they  sold  for  945.  6d.  per  carat.  The  alluvial 
diamonds  of  the  Transvaal  in  1898  amounted  to  12,283 
carats,  and  brought  £35,228,  or  a  fraction  over  575.  4d. 
per  carat.  The  diggings  at  Christiana  on  the  Vaal  in 
the  Transvaal  in  1907,  yielded  2,562  carats  and  sold  for 
£13,579,  or  io6s.  per  carat.  The  output  of  the  Vaal 
river  diggings  for  1905  is  given  as  81,749^2  carats,  at 
an  average  value  of  775.  7d.,  and  for  1906  as  101,- 
607^4  carats  at  773.  3d.  The  alluvial  diggings  of  the 
Orange  River  Colony  for  1907  yielded  7,102  carats 
valued  at  £36,895,  or  1035.  8d.  per  carat. 

It  is  doubtful  if  all  the  wet  diggings  of  Africa  have 
exceeded  an  average  of  100,000  carats  per  annum  since 
the  discovery  of  the  Kimberley  pipes.  The  diamonds, 
however,  have  probably  brought  an  average  of  fifty  per 
cent,  more  than  the  average  for  the  dry  diggings. 

The  territory  in  which  diamondiferous  deposits  and 
chimneys  in  Africa  are  known  to  exist,  is  spreading  con- 
stantly. Alluvial  deposits  containing  diamonds  have 
been  found  east  as  far  as  longitude  28°  E.  in  the  Orange 
River  Colony  and  the  Transvaal;  west  to  German  South 
West  Africa;  north  to  the  watershed  of  the  Limpopo  and 
Zambesi  rivers  in  Matabeleland  at  about  19°  S.,  and 
south  to  about  31°  S,  in  the  Orange  River  Colony, 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     275 

Numerous  diamond-bearing  pipes  have  been  discovered, 
and  though  many  of  them  do  not  contain  sufficient  dia- 
monds to  pay  the  cost  of  working,  they  indicate  that 
volcanic  dykes  of  that  character  are  not  uncommon,  and 
are  not  confined  to  a  narrow  limit.  From  the  Jagers- 
fontein  mine  near  Fauresmith  in  the  Orange  River 
Colony,  to  fifteen  miles  north  of  Kimberley,  a  range  of 
over  100  miles,  there  are  quite  a  number  of  pipes.  In 
the  Pretoria  district  of  the  Transvaal  also,  and  the 
Kroonstad  district  in  the  Orange  River  Colony,  there 
are  clusters  of  them,  and  the  character  of  the  crystals 
found  in  the  deposits  along  the  Orange,  Riet,  Hart,  Vaal 
and  Modder  rivers,  together  with  the  enormous  alluvial 
deposits  lately  discovered  in  Rhodesia,  indicate  that 
other  great  diamondiferous  chimneys  exist  elsewhere, 
probably  at  a  considerable  distance  from  any  known 
at  present.  In  1906  Rhodesia  exported  diamonds  val- 
ued at  £25,469. 

Rhodesia,  a  name  given  in  honor  of  Cecil  J.  Rhodes, 
comprises  Matabeleland  and  Mashonaland,  two  well- 
watered  districts  which  will  undoubtedly  prove  ere  long 
to  be  not  only  most  favorable  for  colonization  by  white 
men,  but  very  productive  also  agriculturally,  and  rich 
in  minerals.  The  territory  is  governed  at  present  by 
the  Chartered  British  South  African  Company,  from 
whom  the  South  African  Option  Syndicate,  formed  in 
1902,  have  secured  an  option  granting  discoverers'  rights 
to  locate  200  square  miles  to  work  for  precious  stones. 
This  section,  which  the  latter  company  is  prospecting,  lies 
along  the  Buluwayo  and  Gwelo  R.  R.  In  the  Somabula 
forest,  about  12  or  14  miles  east  from  Gwelo,  the  com- 
pany's prospectors  have  discovered  a  diamondiferous 


276  THE  DIAMOND 

area  of  about  45  square  miles,  over  which  there  is  an 
alluvial  deposit  ranging  from  a  few  feet  to  25  feet  in 
depth.  The  company  controls  65  square  miles.  They 
reported  in  the  early  part  of  1906,  that  in  30  days 
they  recovered  from  the  rotaries  over  a  surface  56 
yards  long,  some  diamonds,  3,320  carats  of  chrysoberyl, 
sapphire  and  ruby,  and  other  precious  stones  which 
brought  the  total  up  to  7,470  carats,  at  the  rate  of  2.14 
carats  to  the  load.  In  the  autumn  of  1907  they  re- 
ported 4,000  carats  of  diamonds  and  44,000  carats 
of  other  gems  won  up  to  that  time.  The  deposit  is 
located  in  an  open  valley,  about  6,000  by  3,000  feet, 
between  ridges  in  the  Somabula  forest,  and  is  watered 
by  the  Somabula  river.  At  the  head  of  the  valley  lies 
the  great  watershed  of  the  Zambesi  and  Limpopo  rivers. 
As  the  district  has  an  elevation  of  about  4,000  feet,  it 
seems  probable  that  the  source  of  the  deposit  exists 
somewhere  in  the  neighborhood,  in  large  diamondiferous 
chimneys  similar  to  those  of  Griqualand  West,  the 
Orange  River  Colony,  and  the  Transvaal. 

The  gravel  contains  enstatite,  olivine,  ilmenite,  burnt- 
garnets  and  mica,  garnets,  chrysoberyl,  sapphires,  rubies, 
amethysts,  jasper,  iron  conglomerite,  and  diamonds. 
The  presence  of  some  of  the  softer  stones  suggests  that 
the  source  from  which  the  deposit  came  is  not  far  dis- 
tant. It  is  probable  that  diamonds  will  be  found  north 
also,  in  Mashonaland,  for  Keane  says  in  "  Africa " 
(Vol.  II,  South  Africa) :  "  In  1894  a  survey  of  the 
Labangwe  affluent  of  the  Zambesi  gave  indications  of 
diamond-bearing  ground."  The  Somabula  alluvial  is 
now  practically  deserted,  as  diamond  pipes  have  been 
discovered  lately  at  Bambesi  and  are  being  developed. 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     277 

The  largest,  named  the  Colossus,  is  claimed  to  be  larger 
than  any  other  known. 

A  claim  of  contract  between  the  Chartered  Company 
and  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company  made  by 
the  latter  company,  operated  until  now  against  a  vigorous 
prosecution  of  work  in  the  Rhodesian  district.  It  was 
fought  in  the  courts  and  decided  in  the  Chancery  divi- 
sion of  the  High  Court,  February  10,  1910,  against  the 
De  Beers  Company. 

That  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company  con- 
sider the  control  of  these  fields  a  matter  of  vital  impor- 
tance, is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  have  since  decided  to 
take  the  case  to  the  House  of  Lords,  though  the  Court 
of  First  Instance  and  the  Court  of  Appeal  both  decided 
in  favor  of  the  Chartered  Company,  and  the  feeling  of 
the  settlers  of  Rhodesia  is  strongly  against  the  Cape  Col- 
ony Company.  This  action  of  the  De  Beers,  however, 
prevents  immediate  development,  and  in  the  meantime 
they  have  unloaded  more  diamonds  on  the  United  States 
during  the  last  year  than  in  any  year  previous. 

Diamonds  have  been  discovered  in  considerable  quan- 
tities lately  in  German  South  West  Africa  near  the  coast 
at  Luderitz  Bay,  formerly  Angra  Pequena  Bay,  longi- 
tude 16°  E,  and  latitude  26°  S.  The  fields  are  located 
near  the  town  of  Luderitzbucht.  A  syndicate  headed 
by  Senator  Achelis  was  formed  in  Bremen  as  far  back 
as  December,  1902,  to  search  for  diamonds  in  this 
colony.  The  German  Colonial  Company  now  holds  the 
mining  rights  over  a  territory  having  300  miles  of  coast 
line  and  extending  60  miles  back.  The  Calanan's  Kop 
Diamond  Company  and  the  Staunch  Company,  each 
have  a  fifty  year  lease  of  about  15  square  miles  on  the 


278  THE  DIAMOND 

diamondi ferous  deposit,  and  another  company,  the  Weiss 
de  Meillon  Company,  have  one  on  a  tract  of  three  or 
four  square  miles.  It  is  reported  that  the  district  is 
producing  12,000  to  15,000  carats  monthly.  The  quality 
and  color  of  the  stones  are  good,  but  the  crystals  are 
small  and  cut  to  a  fine  grade  about  */$  of  a  carat. 

The  diamonds  occur  in  a  deposit  of  sand  and  gravel 
said  to  range  from  six  to  twelve  feet  in  depth  and 
traceable  in  one  place,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  for  17 
miles.  The  gravel  is  sieved  as  in  other  wet  diggings, 
and  the  water  for  washing  is  obtained  either  by  pumping 
from  the  sea  or  by  digging  shallow  pits,  into  which 
sufficient  water  for  the  purpose  collects. 

In  January,  1909,  the  Emperor  William  issued  a  re- 
script establishing  a  government  monopoly  of  the  trade 
in  all  diamonds  found  in  the  Colony.  All  the  stones 
found  must  be  turned  over  to  the  representative  of  the 
government,  who  will  sell  them  and  after  deducting  ex- 
penses and  a  tax  which,  together  amount  to  about  one- 
third  of  their  value,  will  turn  over  the  remainder  of  the 
proceeds  to  the  owner.  The  present  owners  of  the  dia- 
mond properties  have  agreed  to  form  a  joint  stock  com- 
pany to  act  as  the  government's  representative. 

The  output  of  these  fields  has  already  materially 
affected  the  price  of  small  diamonds  and  as  they  are 
now  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  German  gov- 
ernment, they  should  be  beyond  the  control  or  influence 
of  the  English  Diamond  Syndicate.  An  apparent  in- 
ability for  any  but  a  favored  few  to  obtain  the  rough 
in  1909,  followed  by  a  rise  of  price  to  the  Syndicate 
level,  aroused  suspicion  of  German  freedom  from  syndi- 
cate influence.  It  is  rumored,  however,  that  German 


DIAMOND  MINES  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA     279 

colonial  officials  are  being  investigated.  The  Transvaal 
and  Orange  River  Colony  should  be  equally  free,  as 
the  governments  of  those  colonies  are  practically  part- 
ners in  the  mines  within  their  borders,  and  therefore 
probably  will  not  allow  a  syndicate  operated  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Cape  Colony  mines,  to  restrain  their  out- 
put for  the  purpose  of  holding  up  prices  to  a  figure 
profitable  to  the  Cape  mines.  The  diamond  industry  is 
in  a  critical  condition.  For  twenty  years  the  De  Beers 
Consolidation,  having  control  of  the  supply  and  aided 
by  an  abnormally  good  demand,  has  made  prices,  holding 
supply  to  the  demand.  That  control  lost,  it  appears 
probable  that  the  ancient  millstones  of  economic  prin- 
ciples will  once  more  grind  supply  and  demand  to  a 
natural  adjustment  with  the  cost  of  production,  though 
it  must  be  admitted  that  by  shrewd  manipulation,  prices 
now  (1910)  have  been  restored  to  the  levels  existing 
before  the  panic. 

In  1908  the  De  Beers  group  of  mines  produced 
2,177,191  carats.  These  were  not  all  sold  and  prices 
realized  were  lower,  £800,000  only  being  distributed  in 
dividends  as  against  £2,550,000  in  1907.  The  De  Beers 
and  Dutoitspan  mines  were  closed.  The  average  yield 
per  100  loads  in  1908  was  about  the  same  in  the  De 
Beers,  Kimberley  and  Bultfontein  as  in  1907,  but  a  little 
less  in  the  Wesselton  and  Dutoitspan. 

A  new  alluvial  deposit  was  discovered  July  16,  1908, 
at  Harrisdale,  14  miles  from  Kimberley.  The  gravel 
runs  from  four  inches  to  three  feet  thick.  £20,000 
worth  of  diamonds  of  excellent  quality  were  reported  in 
the  first  six  weeks,  averaging  £8  per  carat. 

The   Transvaal  produced   in    1908,   2,184,490   carats 


280  THE  DIAMOND 

valued  at  £1,879,551,  principally  from  the  Premier, 
though  ii  other  companies  and  the  alluvial  diggings  at 
Christiana  contributed.  The  Premier  output  was  for 
their  year  ending  October  31,  2,078,825  carats  at  143. 
9d.  per  carat. 

Orange  River  Colony  product  for  year  ending  June 
30,  1908,  is  given  as  505,452  carats  valued  at  £1,069,942. 
Average  price  per  carat  fell  from  6os.  6^d.  to  423.  id., 
owing  to  the  unstable  condition  of  the  diamond  market. 
The  greater  part  of  the  product  came  from  the  Jagers- 
fontein,  Koffyfontein,  Voorspoed  and  Roberts  Victor 
mines.  The  balance  came  from  the  Lace,  Ebenezer 
and  Monastery  mines  and  the  alluvial  diggings.  The 
value  of  the  latter  was  66s.  ioj^d.  per  carat.  The 
Roberts  Victor  Company  paid  a  dividend  of  25  per  cent, 
in  March,  1909. 

Up  to  December  31,  1908,  the  diamonds  found  in 
German  South  West  Africa  are  estimated  at  40,000 
carats  worth  $269,000.  Since  then  the  German  Com- 
mittee for  Colonial  Development  report  that  80  new 
companies  have  been  formed.  The  output  for  the  cur- 
rent year  1909,  averaged  about  45,000  carats  per  month 
and  the  price  has  risen  from  $5.33  to  $8  per  carat.  In 
seven  months  of  1909,  273,701  carats  worth  nearly 
$1,904,000  were  obtained,  from  which  nearly  half  the 
amount  was  deducted  by  the  Treasury.  In  some  places 
there  are  several  layers  of  the  diamond-bearing  pebbly 
deposits,  separated  by  sand.  Of  late  some  diamonds 
weighing  up  to  six  carats  each  have  been  found. 


D 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PRINCIPAL  SOUTH    AFRICAN   DIAMOND    MINES 

The  Dutoitspan. 

IAMONDS  had  been  found  in  the  dry  bed  of  a 
stream  on  the  Jagersfontein  in  August,  but  the 
first  opening  on  a  diamondiferous  volcanic  pipe  in 
Africa  was  made  in  1870,  when  -prospectors  discovered 
diamonds  on  the  Du  Toit's  Pan,  owned  by  a  Boer 
farmer  named  Van  Wyk.  After  trying  in  vain  to 
regulate  the  diggers  and  collect  license  fees,  he  sold  his 
farm  for  £2,600.  The  farm  lay  about  twenty-four  miles 
south  and  a  little  east  of  Pniel  on  the  Vaal,  where  the 
diggers  first  made  their  headquarters.  All  the  so-called 
mines  worked  prior  to  this  discovery  were  merely  dig- 
gings in  alluvial  deposits,  as  this  also  was  supposed  to 
be  at  that  time.  Many  diggers  were  attracted  to  it  in 
the  beginning,  but  the  discoveries  of  the  Bultfontein, 
De  Beers,  and  Kimberley,  following  in  rapid  succession, 
drew  many  away,  especially  when  it  was  learned  that  the 
two  last  were  much  richer  in  diamonds.  So  small  was 
the  yield  near  the  surface  that  little  persistent  work  was 
done  on  this  field  until  1880.  As  the  diggers  neared  a 
depth  of  200  feet,  the  yield  improved  so  greatly,  and  the 
diamonds  were  distributed  so  evenly  through  the  rock, 
that  the  work  was  prosecuted  with  more  vigor,  and  the 
mine's  output  was  brought  up  to  a  considerable  amount. 

281 


2§2  THE  DIAMOND 

The  average  yield  at  that  time  was,  it  is  claimed,  about 
three-quarters  of  a  carat  to  the  load. 

Not  only  was  the  Dutoitspan  the  first  of  the  Kirn- 
berley  mines  discovered,  but  it  is  also  much  the  largest. 
The  original  locations  numbered  1,441  claims,  equal  to 
about  23^/2  acres;  nearly  four  times  as  many  as  on 
the  Kimberley  pipe,  but  none  of  the  Kimberley  pipes  are 
as  large  as  the  first  locations  indicated,  because  some 
were  outside  the  diamond-bearing  area.  Like  the  others, 
it  began  with  individual  diggers,  then  the  grouping  of 
claims  in  the  hands  of  small  owners  and  speculators 
who  floated  them  into  stock  companies,  and  in  turn  con- 
solidated, until  at  the  time  of  the  De  Beers  Consoli- 
dation in  1889,  "  The  Griqualand  West  Mining  Com- 
pany "  owned  about  half  the  pipe.  Cecil  Rhodes  said  of 
the  mine,  "  It  is  too  poor  to  work,  and  too  rich  to  allow 
others  to  acquire  it,"  and  for  that  reason  it  was  forced 
into  the  Consolidation.  Those  who  opposed  the  amalga- 
mation, claimed  that  the  De  Beers  people  wanted  it  in 
order  to  close  the  mine.  Barnato,  on  behalf  of  the  De 
Beers,  denied  any  such  intention,  saying  that  the  govern- 
ment would  not  permit  it  and  also  that  the  licenses  due 
the  London  and  South  African  Exploration  Company 
amounted  to  such  a  large  sum  that  it  would  not  pay  to 
do  so.  The  mine  was  practically  closed  at  that  time 
as  far  as  open  working  was  concerned.  Heavy  falls 
of  reef  had  materially  damaged  it.  What  diamonds 
were  being  taken  out  cost  about  the  same  as  they  brought, 
viz. :  6s.  to  75.  per  load.  The  De  Beers  argued  that  if 
the  various  owners  could  not  make  it  pay  with  open 
working  they  certainly  could  not  with  the  more  expensive 
underground  system.  A  majority  of  the  owners  agreed ; 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     283 

the  terms  offered  by  the  De  Beers  were  accepted,  and  the 
Dutoitspan  became  a  part  of  the  Consolidation.  The 
De  Beers  management,  nevertheless,  having  gained  con- 
trol of  the  mine,  did  close  it  down  and  kept  it  idle  until 
they  succeeded  in  buying  up  all  the  outstanding  shares. 
Then  they  made  preparations  to  work  it. 

When  the  De  Beers  began  to  work  the  mine,  there 
was  about  a  hundred  feet  of  water  in  it.  Pumps  were 
installed  and  about  296,000,000  gallons  removed.  On 
August  13,  1901,  a  shaft  in  the  reef  was  begun  and  sunk 
to  775  feet.  It  went  through : 

Ft. 

Debris    19 

Basalt    106 

Shale    239 

Conglomerate    6 

Quartzite    82 

Diorite    63 

Melaphyr     269 

This  arrangement  of  the  strata  differs  from  those  sur- 
rounding the  other  mines  of  this  group,  as  the  company 
had  never  met  with  diorite  before,  nor  had  they  ever 
encountered  quartzite  above  the  melaphyr.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  a  displacement  by  the  intrusion  of  the 
diorite. 

From'  the  main  cross  cut,  drives  were  run  to  a  distance 
of  500  feet,  and  it  was  estimated  that  the  mine  con- 
tained in  sight  above  the  750  foot  level,  24,380,000 
loads.  The  equipment  of  this  mine  has  been  excep- 
tionally good.  With  the  experience  of  years  to  draw 
upon,  the  best  has  been  furnished.  The  equipment  is 
electrical.  Underground  locomotives  for  haulage,  hoists, 


284  THE  DIAMOND 

and  pumps  are  run  by  electricity.  The  washing  plant 
is  situated  on  the  floors  about  a  mile  from  the  mine, 
and  has  a  capacity  of  about  six  thousand  loads  per  day. 
In  1905  the  shaft  was  carried  down  to  814  feet. 

The  company  did  not  meet  with  much  encourage- 
ment at  first,  for  their  outlay.  In  1904  only  3,032  carats 
were  won  at  an  average  of  .12  of  a  carat  to  the  load, 
valued  at  425.  3d.  per  carat;  1905  made  a  much  better 
showing,  with  24,902  carats  which  brought  693.  nd. 
per  carat  and  a  yield  of  .26  of  a  carat  to  the  load; 
1906  gave  .25  of  a  carat  which  realized  8os.  n.52d 
per  carat;  1907  at  an  average  of  .24  of  a  carat  to 
the  load,  yielded  365,821^2  carats;  1908  showed  an- 
other slight  loss  of  average  yield,  it  being  .23,  but  the 
output  brought  743.  5-O7d.  per  carat.  The  cost  of 
producing  in  1905  was  very  high,  amounting  to  475. 
3. 3d.  per  carat,  but  was  reduced  nearly  half  in  1906  to 
295.  2d.  per  carat,  and  in  1907  to  273.  per  carat.  Un- 
fortunately, just  as  the  mine  was  becoming  important  as 
a  producer,  and  profitable  on  account  of  the  good  prices 
the  product  commanded,  the  sudden  falling  off  in  the 
demand  for  diamonds,  decided  the  management  to  close 
it  on  April  24,  1908,  until  business  showed  some  im- 
provement. 

The  quality  of  the  diamonds  in  this  mine  has  im- 
proved very  materially  with  depth.  Most  of  them  show 
color  but  many  are  fancy.  In  the  lower  workings  also 
there  is  an  almost  entire  absence  of  fragments  and 
broken  crystals.  In  the  eighties,  Dutoitspan  diamonds 
brought  on  an  average  about  235.  to  28s.  per  carat,  or 
twenty-five  per  cent,  more  than  the  average  of  the  three 
other  Kimberley  mines.  The  output  at  that  time  ranged 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     285 

from  500,000  to  700,000  carats  per  annum,  about  the 
same  as  that  of  the  De  Beers  and  of  the  Bultfontein, 
and  two-thirds  that  of  the  Kimberley,  the  value  being 
greater  than  either.  Until  the  limit  of  open-working 
was  reached,  it  was  a  great  producer  of  valuable  material, 
nevertheless  Barnato  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  De  Beers 
Consolidated,  stated  that  hardly  one  company  had  paid 
a  dividend  in  the  seventeen  years  they  had  been  working 
it.  That  two  companies  on  the  mine,  the  Griqualand 
West,  and  the  Anglo-African  Company,  had  paid  very 
small  dividends,  he  attributed  to  the  extraordinary 
financial  ability  of  their  respective  managers. 

The  Bultfontein. 

Rumors  had  come  to  the  ear  of  Cornells  du  Plooy 
on  his  farm,  the  Bultfontein,  that  north  of  him  toward 
the  Vaal  river,  men  were  picking  stones  out  of  the 
earth  and  selling  them  for  money,  sometimes  getting 
more  for  one  stone  than  a  man  would  have  to  pay  for 
a  tract  of  land  larger  than  his  own  wide  stretch  of 
brush  and  gravel.  He  had  heard  too  that  a  lot  of  those 
restless  Englishmen  from  the  Cape  Colony  were  already 
scratching  and  digging  the  earth  in  every  direction  in 
search  of  these  stones  that  could  be  sold.  If  stones 
could  be  sold  for  money,  it  behooved  him  to  look  into 
the  matter,  for  there  were  plenty  of  them  scattered  all 
over  his  own  morgen,  where  the  goats  and  sheep  picked 
a  living.  It  would  be  easier  to  pick  up  stones  than  to 
raise  hides  and  wool  for  the  semi-annual  trading  trip 
to  Grahamstown.  So  after  some  days  of  cogitation,  he 
gathered  a  pocketful  of  pebbles,  and  on  November,  1869, 
carried  them  to  the  store  of  a  Mr.  Hurley  to  see  if  he 


286  THE  DIAMOND 

could  learn  what  kind  of  stones  they  were  which  had 
drawn  the  army  of  invaders  into  the  barren  Boer  set- 
tlements. The  scientist  and  geologist,  Mr.  Draper,  was 
there,  and  he  recognized  a  diamond  among  the  stones 
Du  Plooy  had.  Whether  or  ho  he  disclosed  the  fact 
to  the  Boer  farmer  does  not  appear,  but  soon  after,  Mr. 
Hurley  and  some  others  bought  the  Bultfontein  farm 
for  £2,000,  began  prospecting,  and  formed  the  "  Hope- 
town  Company."  Title  to  the  land  was  afterwards  con- 
veyed to  the  London  and  South  African  Exploration 
Company,  when  disputes  among  former  owners  brought 
the  case  before  the  Land  Commission  in  1876. 

While  this  was  being  done,  others  were  looking  .for 
diamonds  among  the  kopjes  of  the  neighborhood,  and 
some  were  found  in  a  kopje  on  the  Du  Toit's  Pan  farm, 
a  half  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  away,  and  claims  were 
staked  out.  This  later  became  the  Dutoitspan  mine. 
Very  soon  after,  the  Bultfontein  mine  was  discovered, 
At  that  time,  these  were  not  the  mines  as  we  know 
them,  but  places  here  and  there  over  the  surface,  where 
a  digger,  having  found  some  diamonds,  staked  a  claim 
to  cover  as  much  about  it  as  the  mining  rules  allowed, 
upon  the  chance  of  finding  more.  There  was  room  for 
1,753  such  claims  within  the  supposed  diamond-bearing 
area  of  the  Bultfontein  mine,  as  it  was  known  later. 
There  were  1,067  original  claims,  equal  to  23.54  acres. 

The  mine  is  situated  in  the  suburbs  of  Beaconsfield, 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  southwest  from  the  Du- 
toitspan, and  not  quite  three  miles  southeast  from  Kim- 
berley.  In  extent  it  is  the  second  largest  of  the 
Kimberley  mines.  Possibly  it  has  some  subterranean 
connection  with  its  immediate  neighbor,  as  it  is  reported 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     287 

that  the  Dutoitspan  and  the  Bultfontein  are  dipping  to- 
wards each  other  at  the  low  levels  now  being  worked. 

In  the  first  years  of  its  history,  this  mine  was  not 
worked  with  the  same  energy  as  the  Kimberley  and  De 
Beers.  It  was  not  as  rich  in  diamonds  as  they,  nor  were 
there  as  many  large  stones  found  in  it  to  excite  hope. 
The  diggers  hovered  about  the  rich  Kimberley,  hoping 
to  make  a  strike  there.  When,  however,  the  Kimber- 
ley diamond-bearing  area  became  well  defined,  and  the 
surface  was  all  taken  up,  the  Bultfontein  was  worked 
steadily  with  good  results.  Later,  as  a  public  demand 
for  stock  in  diamond  mines  developed,  a  number  of  com- 
panies were  floated  on  this  field,  and  the  various  man- 
agements, in  the  effort  to  earn  dividends,  prosecuted  the 
work  with  vigor.  In  the  eighties,  after  records  were 
kept,  the  output  from  this  mine  ranged  from  500,000  to 
700,000  carats  per  annum,  and  sold  for  an  average  price 
of  1 8s.  to  22s.  per  carat. 

The  diamonds  of  the  Bultfontein  are  usually  small, 
white  octahedrons.  The  color  is  very  good,  but  the 
majority  are  flawed.  Colored  stones  are  rarely  found 
in  it. 

As  the  open  workings  were  carried  down,  the  same 
difficulties  were  encountered  in  this  as  in  the  other  mines. 
Falling  reef,  mud-rushes,  and  a  growing  necessity  for 
united  action  and  large  capital  to  cope  with  the  diffi- 
culties, made  the  work  of  most  of  the  companies  unprof- 
itable. In  1887  the  open  work  had  reached  a  depth  of 
460  feet,  and  a  large  part  of  it  was  covered  with  fallen 
reef.  Although  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Com- 
pany, who  already  owned  a  large  interest  in  the  mine, 
forced  it  into  the  amalgamation  of  1889,  it  was  evidently 


288  THE  DIAMOND 

for  the  purpose  of  removing  competition  when  they  began 
their  policy  of  raising  the  price  of  diamonds,  and  with 
the  expectation  that  it  would  pay  later,  though  it  could 
not  earn  dividends  on  underground  work  at  that  time. 
The  mine  was  practically  shut  down  for  some  years, 
but  preparations  were  made  for  underground  working. 
By  1902  there  were  18,700  feet  of  tunnels,  and  it  was 
operated  on  6  levels  down  to  600  ft.  In  that  year  352,- 
042  loads  were  handled,  20,194  loads  washed,  and 
4,486.5  carats  of  diamonds  won  at  a  cost  of  6s.  6.4d. 
per  load  and  a  value  of  6s.  9d.  per  load,  the  price  per 
carat  being  305.  4-7d.  The  yield  averaged  .21  of  a  carat 
to  the  load.  The  year  1903  showed  an  improvement,  as 
76,573  carats  were  taken  from  317,185  loads  washed,  an 
average  yield  of  .24  of  a  carat.  The  cost  also  was  re- 
duced to  53.  9d.  per  load,  and  the  price  realized  was 
slightly  increased  to  303.  lod.  per  carat.  Although  the 
price  fell  in  1904  to  293.  7d.,  the  gross  yield  of  diamonds, 
and  the  average  yield  per  load,  improved  sufficiently  to 
more  than  offset  it,  as  148,219  carats  at  .29  to  the  load 
were  won,  at  the  same  cost  per  load  as  in  1903.  The 
following  year,  1905,  showed  a  much  greater  improve- 
ment in  every  way.  At  a  cost  of  55.  io.5d.  per  load, 
611,491  loads  were  washed,  yielding  249,002  carats  or 
.41  of  a  carat  to  the  load,  for  which  343.  nd.  per  carat 
was  realized.  The  percentage  per  load  has  since  fallen 
to  .32  in  1908,  but  at  .32  and  a  cost  of  6s.  2.4d.  per 
load  in  1907,  the  output  was  547,485^  carats.  The 
price  was  advanced  to  425.  n.49d.,  with  a  yield  of  .36 
of  a  carat  at  a  cost  of  53.  5.3d.  per  load  in  1906,  but  fell 
back  to  413.  4.8d.  in  1908.  The  mine  therefore  made 
a  better  showing  each  year  from  the  commencement  of 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     289 

underground  working  in  1902,  when  there  was  a  profit 
of  3d.  per  load,  to  1905,  which  showed  a  profit  of  8s.  4d. 
per  load. 

Open  working  was  carried  to  a  greater  depth  in  this 
mine  than  in  either  of  the  other  Kimberley  mines.  Four 
hundred  feet  was  the  usual  limit,  but  the  Bultfontein 
was  dug  to  460  feet. 

The  De  Beers. 

The  De  Beers  diamond  mine  is  about  one  mile  east 
from  the  Kimberley  and  in  the  central  part  of  the  city 
of  Kimberley.  In  extent  it  is  958  feet  east  and  west  by 
630  feet  north  and  south  and  the  original  locations  cov- 
ered a  surface  equal  to  622  claims  or  13.72  acres.  It 
was  in  this  mine  that  Cecil  Rhodes  centered  his  inter- 
ests, and  from  the  nucleus  he  created  there,  forced  the 
Kimberley  interests  to  join  the  combination  which  finally 
embraced  all  the  producing  mines  of  South  Africa  at 
that  time.  The  De  Beers  did  not  in  the  beginning,  nor 
does  it  now,  yield  as  many  diamonds  as  the  Kimberley, 
but  the  average  quality  is  better,  though  not  as  good  as 
those  from  the  west  end  of  the  Kimberley,  and  the  per- 
centage of  crystals  which  can  be  cut  to  jewels  is  larger. 
What  the  comparative  output  of  the  two  mines  of  late 
years  is,  cannot  be  stated,  as  the  returns  are  given  to- 
gether in  the  yearly  statements  of  the  company.  In 
1907  the  combined  output  was  less  than  that  of  the 
Wesselton  or  the  Bultfontein,  and  the  yield  per  load 
was  but  little  better  than  either  of  the  latter,  the 
De  Beers  and  Kimberley  being  .37  of  a  carat,  the  Wes- 
selton .32  and  the  Bultfontein  .33. 

This  mine  is   more   liable   to   mud-rushes   than   the 

19 


29o  THE  DIAMOND 

others  of  the  Kimberley  group.  In  1902,  3  natives  were 
killed  and  6,989  feet  of  tunnels  filled.  The  rock  shaft 
at  that  time  was  down  1,784  feet,  and  the  mine  was 
worked  from  n  levels  at  40- ft.  intervals,  from  1,100  to 
1,400  feet  deep.  15,506  feet  of  new  tunnels  were  cut. 
They  had  in  sight  above  the  1,400- foot  level,  1,289,500 
loads  of  blue,  and  had,  developed  between  that  and  the 
i,72O-foot  level,  3,375,400  loads,  a  total  of  4,664,900 
loads  in  sight  June  30,  1902.  The  cost  of  mining,  de- 
positing and  washing  that  year  was  95.  o.9d.  per  load, 
7/io  of  a  penny  per  load  more  than  the  year  previous 
and  a  little  more  than  2s.  in  excess  of  the  Kimberley 
cost  for  the  same  year,  which  was  75.  8.6d.  per  load. 

In  1904  the  rock  shaft  was  down  to  2,076  feet.  In 
1903  a  tunnel  was  made  around  the  mine  in  the  hard 
rock  under  the  shale,  the  same  as  in  the  Kimberley  mine, 
to  take  up  the  water  from  the  mud-rushes. 

According  to  the  annual  reports  published  by  the  com- 
pany, the  combined  yield  percentage  of  the  De  Beers 
and  Kimberley  has  declined  steadily  since  the  consoli- 
dation, the  lowest  averages  in  the  history  of  the  mines 
being  those  of  1907  and  1908,  which  were  alike,  .34  of 
a  carat  to  the  load.  At  the  same  time  the  cost  per  load 
has  increased  in  the  last  ten  years  from  6s.  7«4d.  in  1898 
to  95.  o.8d.  in  1907. 

The  upper  part  of  the  De  Beers  mine  was  very  poor. 
Some  parts  of  it  contained  so  few  diamonds  that  it  did 
not  pay  to  work  them.  At  two  to  three  hundred  feet, 
there  was  a  marked  improvement,  which  was  maintained 
for  a  long  time,  and  the  fact  probably  gave  rise  to  the 
general  report,  yet  circulated  with  regard  to  the  Kim- 
berley group,  that  the  blue  is  richer  than  the  yellow  was, 


1HE    KIMOEKLE1 


KIMBERLEY  MINE— PRESENT  DAY 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     291 

the  evidence  of  the  annual  reports  showing  the  con- 
trary, notwithstanding.  The  yellow  ground  of  the 
Kimberley,  from  all  accounts,  contained  more  diamonds 
than  any  level  of  the  blue  under  it,  but  in  the  other 
mines,  both  the  yellow  and  the  upper  part  of  the  blue 
were  much  poorer  than  the  blue  from  about  200  to  a 
thousand  feet  down.  Below  that,  however,  the  yield  per 
load  appears  to  decline  steadily  with  depth  in  all  the 
mines. 

The  Kimberley. 

The  Kimberley  diamond  mine  is  situated  at  the  city 
of  Kimberley  in  the  Griqualand  West  district  of  Cape 
Colony,  South  Africa,  in  lat.  28°  43  S.  and  long.  24° 
46  E.  By  rail  it  is  647  miles  northeast  of  Cape  Town 
and  485  miles  north  of  Port  Elizabeth.  It  is  a  few  miles 
from  the  borders  of  the  Orange  River  Colony,  formerly 
the  Orange  Free  State.  The  town  and  mine  were 
named  after  the  Earl  of  Kimberley,  H.  M.'s  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Colonies  when  the  town  came  into  ex- 
istence. 

At  the  time  of  its  discovery,  July  21,  1871,  the  mine 
was  called  the  "  Old  De  Beers  New  Rush  "  or  "  Coles- 
burgh  Kopje  New  Rush,"  because  a  "  rush  "  was  made 
by  the  diggers  from  the  De  Beers  mine  lately  discovered 
nearby,  to  a  new  field  on  Colesburgh  Kopje  which  was 
reported  to  be  exceedingly  rich. 

The  district  was  then  supposed  to  be  in  the  Orange 
Free  State,  because  the  English  had  agreed  not  to  inter- 
fere with  the  Boers  north  of  the  Orange  river.  All 
the  Kimberley  mines  were  on  Boer  farms  so-called, 
though  they  were  little  more  than  wild  tracts  of  land 


292  THE  DIAMOND 

upon  which  the  few  Dutch  settlers  raised  cattle,  sheep, 
and  goats,  in  a  primitive  and  Oriental  way.  The  coun- 
try lay  west  of  the  territory  in  which  the  Free  State  had 
practically  established  the  routine  of  governmental  func- 
tions, and  within  an  undefined  stretch  of  land  sparsely 
inhabited  by  a  mongrel  tribe  called  Griquas,  of  whom 
one  Waterboer  was  the  chief.  As  there  were,  however, 
a  few  Boer  settlers  scattered  about,  to  that  extent  the  land 
may  be  considered  properly  to  have  been  a  part  of  the 
Free  State  in  embryo,  or  a  territory  in  the  wilds  within 
the  scope  of  the  Free  State's  influence,  to  which  that  State 
might  rightfully  lay  claim,  and  establish  within  it  the 
functions  of  government  when  the  inhabitants  called 
for  it,  and  they  and  their  possessions  were  of  sufficient 
importance  to  warrant  it.  By  the  rapid  influx  of  men 
from  the  English  Cape  Colony  and  from  England,  how- 
ever, together  with  the  investment  of  English  capital, 
the  preponderating  element  became  English  and  called 
for  English  governmental  control.  Griqualand  West, 
as  it  was  called,  therefore  eventually  became  a  part  of 
the  Cape  Colony. 

Of  the  four  mines  discovered  in  that  neighborhood 
and  which  have  been  since  known  as  the  Kimberley 
mines,  the  name  of  this  one  has  on  that  account  become 
more  generally  known.  With  the  general  public  it 
stands  not  only  for  all  the  mines  of  the  De  Beers  con- 
solidation, but  to  most  people,  it  is  a  name  for  all  dia- 
mond mines  of  South  Africa. 

It  is  the  smallest  of  the  four  Kimberley  mines,  but 
has  proved  the  richest,  from  its  discovery  until  the 
present  time,  the  percentage  of  diamonds  to  the  load 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     293 

of  clay  having  been  sufficient  until  lately  to  more  than 
offset  the  greater  proportion  of  bort  which  is  found 
in  it. 

The  Kimberley  is  a  true  volcanic  chimney  or  pipe  and 
the  contents  carry  diamonds  throughout.  When  dis- 
covered, volcanic  pipes  of  diamondiferous  material  were 
unrecognized.  The  surface  was  staked  out  in  claims 
and  worked  as  a  very  rich  alluvial  deposit,  until  it  was 
discovered  that  the  supposed  deposit  was  a  circumscribed 
area  within  well-defined  limits,  and  the  bed  rock  on  which 
it  rested  was  simply  an  unoxidized  continuation  of  the 
same  material  to  an  unknown  depth. 

There  were  470  full  claims  on  this  pipe,  which  at  one 
time  were  split  up  among  1,600  owners,  but  which  later 
fell  year  by  year  into  fewer  hands,  and  finally  became 
absorbed  into  the  De  Beers  Consolidation  in  1889,  as 
described  elsewhere. 

What  the  output  of  this  mine  was,  in  the  early  days 
of  individual  claims,  is  unknown.  It  has  always  been 
comparatively  large,  but  different  parts  of  the  chimney 
have  varied  greatly,  not  only  in  the  quantity  of  diamonds 
contained  in  the  earth,  but  in  the  character  of  them  also. 
Some  spots  have  been  very  rich,  others  poor.  In  the 
west  end  the  crystals  are  perfect  octahedrons  or  white 
glassy  stones;  elsewhere  they  are  rounded  or  the  edges 
are  beveled.  In  the  southeast  section,  the  diamonds  have 
shown  a  color  tendency  resembling  those  of  the  Dutoits- 
pan.  The  north  and  northwest  section  of  it,  held 
many  smoky  stones,  bort  and  broken  crystals,  many  of 
them  mere  fragments.  Owing  to  the  number  of  owners, 
the  great  amount  of  stealing  that  went  on,  and  an  entire 


294  THE  DIAMOND 

absence  of  public  records  up  till  the  consolidation,  no 
definite  knowledge  regarding  the  quantity  of  diamonds 
won  could  be  had. 

It  was  in  this  mine  that  the  interests  of  Barney  Bar- 
nato,  one  of  the  so-called  diamond  kings,  centered.  He 
had  accumulated  some  money  as  a  general  trader  and 
speculator  when  he  made  his  first  purchase  in  1876,  of 
claims  on  this  chimney.  His  faith  in  the  theory  of  Dr. 
Atherstone  that  all  these  Kimberley  mining  claims  were 
in  volcanic  pipes,  was  later  demonstrated  by  his  purchase 
of  the  last  claims  owned  by  an  individual  in  the  mines, 
six  in  number,  situated  in  the  center  of  the  pipe,  for 
£30,000  each.  This  was  a  record  price  on  the  Fields. 
He  continued  to  acquire  claims  when  many  thought  that 
the  diamonds  ceased  with  the  upper  layer  of  yellow 
ground,  and  by  the  time  that  the  underlying  blue  ground 
was  reached  and  proved  equally  rich,  or  richer  than  the 
yellow,  he  had  obtained  an  interest  which  enabled  him 
later  to  exercise  a  powerful  if  not  controlling  influence 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Kimberley  mine.  At  the  eighth 
meeting  of  the  De  Beers  Diamond  Mining  Company, 
Barnato  claimed  that  his  interest  in  the  mines  of  the  Kim- 
berley district  amounted  to  nearly  two  million  pounds. 
A  large  share  of  this  was  made  undoubtedly  by  float- 
ing stock  companies. 

An  exact  knowledge  of  the  mine  could  not  be  had 
during  the  process  of  consolidating  the  various  in- 
terests in  it,  so  after  its  amalgamation  with  outside  in- 
terests in  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company,  it 
became  difficult  to  entirely  separate  its  affairs  from 
the  others  of  the  combination  of  which  it  was  a  part, 
inasmuch  as  the  working  of  each  was  regulated  or  mod- 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     295 

ified  by  the  general  interests,  and  the  results  of  the  De 
Beers  and  Kimberley  were  published  together. 

The  Kimberley,  like  the  De  Beers,  is  distinguished  by 
a  yield  of  large  yellowish  crystals  with  curved  edges, 
and  it  produces  more  bort  than  any  other  of  the  old 
mines.  At  the  time  of  the  Consolidation,  in  1889,  the 
Kimberley  and  De  Beers  mines  together,  were  said  to 
average  1.283  carats  per  load,  and  the  diamonds  had 
brought  an  average  of  193.  8-75d.  per  carat.  The  aver- 
age price  for  the  year  of  1889  is  given  as  295.  per  carat. 
From  that  time  the  yield  declined  and  the  price  increased. 
In  1898  the  average  per  load  was  0.80  of  a  carat; 
in  1889  0.71  of  a  carat.  Excepting  1901  and  1902, 
when  it  was  0.76,  the  yield  declined  steadily  until  it  was 
but  0.37  of  a  carat  for  1907  and  1908.  The  cost  of 
mining  in  1898  was  6s.  7-4d.  per  load,  and  it  was  stead- 
ily increased  to  93.  o.8d.  in  1907.  As  the  yield  of  dia- 
monds per  load  has  at  the  same  time  as  steadily  de- 
creased, there  is  a  material  increase  in  the  cost  per  carat, 
which  is  now  in  the  neighborhood  of  27  shillings.  The 
increased  price  obtained  for  the  diamonds  has  more  than 
compensated  the  extra  cost  of  producing.  The  joint 
policy  of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Company 
and  their  cog  wheel,  the  Diamond  Syndicate,  since  they 
obtained  control  of  the  market,  of  regulating  output  to 
the  world's  demand  and  willingness  to  pay  advanced 
prices,  has  more  than  doubled  the  value  of  rough  to 
the  mines,  and  still  further  increased  the  cost  to  the  cut- 
ter. It  was  not  until  the  year  1900  that  the  mines  re- 
ceived any  considerable  advance,  i.  e.,  355.  io.2d.  as 
against  295.  7.2d.  in  1899.  From  that  time  the  price 
was  steadily  raised  to  645.  9-74d.  in  1907. 


296  THE  DIAMOND 

Mining  operations  are  being  carried  on  at  a  greater 
depth  in  the  Kimberley  than  in  any  of  the  other  mines. 
In  1902  the  main  shaft  was  down  2,233  feet>  and  actual 
work  in  the  blue  was  done  on  9  levels  40  feet  apart.  In 
1904,  the  main  shaft  was  sunk  60  feet  further  to  2,599 
feet.  The  lowest  working  level  in  the  early  part  of  1907 
was  at  2,520  feet. 

Gardner  F.  Williams,  in  "  The  Diamond  Mines  of 
South  Africa,"  says  that  when  the  claims  on  these  four 
mines  were  consolidated  by  purchase,  the  open-mine  sur- 
face was  figured  to  be:  Kimberley,  33  acres;  De  Beers, 
22  acres;  Dutoitspan,  45  acres;  Bultfontein,  36  acres. 

The  Jagersfontein. 

This  mine  is  in  the  Orange  River  Colony,  formerly 
the  Orange  Free  State,  near  Fauresmith  and  the  Riet 
river,  and  about  eighty  miles  south  and  a  little  east 
of  Kimberley.  It  was  discovered  about  the  same  time 
as  the  Kimberley  mines,  and  a  controlling  interest  in 
it  was  secured  by  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
shortly  after  the  establishment  of  that  company.  Ja- 
gersfontein was  owned  by  a  widow  named  Visser  and 
the  farm  was  worked  by  her  overseer,  De  Klerk.  He, 
noticing  garnets  in  the  dry  bed  of  a  spruit,  and  having 
heard  that  the  Vaal  diggers  considered  them  an  indica- 
tion of  diamonds,  sieved  some  of  the  gravel  and  in  Au- 
gust, 1870,  found  a  diamond  weighing  fifty  carats.  This 
led  to  the  discovery  of  the  Jagersfontein  mine  by  the 
diggers  who  flocked  there  and  worked  allotted  areas 
of  20  feet  square  on  a  royalty  of  £2  per  month  to  the 
widow.  In  1888  the  New  Jagersfontein  Exploration 
Company  was  incorporated  and  gradually  absorbed  the 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     297 

various  interests.  The  New  Jagersfontein  Company,  as 
it  is  known  since  the  Boer  war,  is  capitalized  at  £i,- 
000,000,  divided  into  500,000  each  of  ordinary  and  de- 
ferred shares.  The  shape  of  the  mine  is  a  rough  oval, 
and  the  size  of  it  about  1,500  by  2,000  feet,  and  it  con- 
tains 1,124  claims.  It  has  been  skillfully  and  method- 
ically worked  as  an  open  mine  to  depths,  which  in  all 
the  others  entailed  most  disastrous  consequences.  It 
is  worked  down  in  concentric  terraces.  The  three  low- 
est are  carried  down  360,  410  and  450  feet,  with  a  small 
area  below,  480  feet  deep,  and  late  reports  claim  that  a 
depth  of  700  feet  in  the  open  has  been  reached.  So  well 
has  this  been  done  that  the  system  serves  as  a  model  to 
mines  discovered  later,  in  their  open  working. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Boer  war,  this  mine  had  been 
producing  about  250,000  carats  yearly.  In  1898,  232,- 
433  carats;  in  1899,  288,937  carats.  In  1900  the  pro- 
duction fell  to  183,399  carats,  and  in  1901,  while  the  war 
was  on,  to  18,002  carats.  Work  was  then  abandoned 
until  July,  1902,  when  the  English  company  again  took 
possession  of  the  mine.  Some  months  were  occupied 
in  getting  the  water  out  of  the  mine,  repairing  and  re- 
placing machinery,  etc.;  after  which,  work  was  resumed 
and  29,302  carats  won  for  the  year  ending  March  31, 
1903.  For  the  year  ending  March  31,  1904,  the  yield 
was  167,597^4  carats.  In  1905  the  output  was  back  to 
the  old  figures,  being  266,225  carats.  The  year  1906 
gave  255,841  carats  and  1907,  219,275  carats. 

The  yield  of  .diamonds  to  the  load  in  this  mine  is 
very  small.  Before  the  war  it  was  0.112  of  a  carat  to 
the  load.  In  1904  it  was  only  .0968.  The  management 
attributed  the  decline  to  reef  and  mixed  material  having 


298  THE  DIAMOND 

fallen  in.  1905  showed  an  increase  to  .1049  and  further 
betterment  in  1906  to  .1089,  but  1907  fell  to  .0911. 
The  quality  of  the  diamonds,  however,  is  very  fine,  com- 
bining great  purity  of  color  and  brilliancy,  similar  to  the 
Indian  goods.  Consequently  they  have  always  brought 
high  prices.  From  1887,  when  they  realized  about 
thirty  shillings  per  carat,  the  price  rose  steadily  to  over 
sixty-six  shillings  in  1904.  In  1905  the  price  dropped 
to  6is.  5d.,  but  in  1906  advanced  to  633.  4d.,  and  at  the 
time  of  putting  out  the  report  for  that  year,  the  price 
had  advanced  again  to  seventy  shillings,  and  the  yield 
for  the  year  to  March  31,  1907,  realized  713.  6d.  The 
yield  being  so  small,  the  cost  of  production  per  carat 
compared  with  some  other  mines  is  very  high,  running 
in  the  neighborhood  of  thirty  shillings  per  carat.  It 
was  2s.  io.79d.  per  load  in  1904,  which  equals  303.  per 
carat. 

The  profitable  nature  of  African  mining,  once  a  true 
pipe  is  obtained,  and  the  mine  is  worked  under  a  single 
and  capable  management,  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the 
Jagersfontein.  With  a  yield  of  about  one-tenth  of  a 
carat  to  the  load,  two  dividends  of  £100,000  each  were 
paid  in  1904,  and  a  balance  of  £85,297.10.10  was  car- 
ried over.  In  1905  £362,500,  and  for  the  year  ending 
March  31,  1906,  £425,000  was  paid.  The  profits  of  the 
year  to  March  31,  1905,  were  £437,355  ;  of  the  next  year, 
£437,293,  and  to  March  31,  1907,  £429,373. 

The  mine  employs  from  two  to  three  thousand  natives. 
2800  are  needed  for  the  capacity  of  the  mine,  but  as 
many  of  the  natives  go  to  their  kraals  in  planting  time, 
there  is  sometimes  a  shortage  of  labor. 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     299 

The  Wesselton. 

The  Wesselton,  or  Premier,  as  it  was  first  called,  takes 
its  name  from  J.  J.  Wessels,  Sen.,  the  owner  of  the 
Benaaudheidfontein  farm,  on  which  it  was  discovered, 
in  September,  1890.  It  is  situated  about  one  mile  south 
of  the  Dutoitspan,  in  Cape  Colony,  on  the  border  of 
the  Orange  River  Colony;  formerly,  the  Orange  Free 
State.  In  extent  it  is  equal  to  1162  claims,  equal  to 
about  24  acres.  The  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
bought  the  property  in  December,  1891,  subject  to  cer- 
tain mining  rights,  and  assumed  control  of  the  mine  in 
January,  1896.  Since  that  time  it  has  proved  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  De  Beers  and  the  Syndicate.  Although 
the  yield  per  load  has  always  been  moderate,  it  runs  very 
even,  and  the  output  has  been  large  in  the  aggregate. 
The  quality  of  the  diamonds  also  is  exceptionally  good, 
and  when  free  from  flaws,  they  are  rated  almost  equal 
to  white  river-goods. 

By  1903,  the  management  was  operating  on  seven 
levels  down  to  500  feet,  the  two  upper  ones  open  work, 
the  others  underground.  It  was  estimated  at  that  time 
there  were  17,730,000  loads  of  blue  in  sight.  It  has 
been  one  of  the  most  profitable  mines  of  the  De  Beers 
group,  as  the  following  table  shows: 


Carats 

Cts.  per   Val.  per 

Val.  per 

Cost  per 

won. 

load. 

ct. 

load. 

load. 

1898 

..  189,356^ 

0.27 

20S. 

9d. 

Ss. 

8d. 

2S. 

7.id. 

1899 

..  496,762^ 

•30 

225. 

lo.id. 

6s. 

9-8d. 

2S. 

3.3d. 

1900 

.  .  220,762*4 

•30 

25S. 

o.2d. 

7s. 

5-9d. 

2S. 

7-5d. 

1901 

•  •  447,399^ 

.295 

27S. 

37d. 

8s. 

o.6d. 

3s. 

o.9d. 

1902 

..  521,437 

•30 

33S. 

5d. 

95. 

lid. 

3S. 

5.2d. 

1903 

..  594,890 

•30 

35s. 

4d. 

IOS. 

3-2d. 

3s. 

37d. 

300  THE  DIAMOND 

Carats  Cts.  per  Val.  per  Val.  per        Cost  per 

won.  load.              ct.  load.  load. 

1904    .  .    605,241  .28  243.  lod.  93.  lod.           35.  7.3d. 

IQOS    ••    578,152  .284  365.  nd.  los.    4d.           33.  7.3d. 

1906  .  .  .28  435.    p.i2d.  I2s.    3d.           45. 

1907  .  .    604,915]^,  .32  33.  8.gd. 

1908  .27  383.  n.4d. 


Two  diamonds  weighing  i8j4  and  21  carats  respec- 
tively, of  a  form  rarely  found  in  the  African  fields,  were 
taken  from  this  mine.  They  were  cubes  with  beveled 
edges  similar  to  many  of  the  Brazilian  crystals. 

The  name  "  Wesselton  "  is  now  given  to  clean,  well- 
made  cut  diamonds,  with  a  quality  rating  between  top 
crystal  and  Jagers. 

The  Premier  Diamond  Mine. 

t 

The  greatest  known  diamond  mine  in  the  world  is  the 
Premier  of  the  Transvaal,  South  Africa.  In  extent  it  is 
nearly  as  large  as  the  four  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines 
combined,  and  though  the  yield  of  diamonds  per  load  of 
diamondiferous  material  is  not  now  as  great  as  that  of 
some  others,  its  yield  in  the  aggregate  can  be  made  at 
will  much  larger  than  that  of  any  other,  and  at  consider- 
ably less  expense. 

The  Premier  of  the  Transvaal  is  sometimes  called 
the  New  Premier,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  old  Premier 
of  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines  Co.,  now  known 
as  the  Wesselton.  It  is  situated  in  the  Pretoria 
district  of  the  Transvaal,  near  the  railroad  to  Delagoa 
Bay,  and  twenty-one  miles  east  of  Pretoria.  It  was 
reached  formerly  by  a  wagon  road  from  Van-der  Merwe, 
a  small  station  on  the  railroad  seven  miles  away.  In 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES    301 

those  days  a  conveyance  from  the  station  to  the  mine 
cost  twelve  dollars,  but  the  company  has  since  built  a 
spur  to  the  railroad  at  Ray  ton  Station,  5^2  miles  off. 
It  was  known  that  there  were  diamonds  in  the  Pre- 
toria district  for  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  Pre- 
mier mine,  and  properties  were  developed  which  did  not 
pay ;  others  were  profitable,  but  proved  to  be  small  mines. 
There  are  three  such  between  Van  der  Merwe  and  the 
Premier,  viz. :  the  Schuller,  the  Montrose  and  the  Kaal- 
fontein.     An  article  in  the  Queenstown  "  Representa- 
tive/' March  3,  1871,  told  of  a  4%  carat  diamond  found 
on  a  farm  near  Pretoria,  also  of  others  found  on  the 
banks  of  the  Elands  river  and  several  other  places.     It 
was  said  that  a  government  commission  had  been  sent 
out  to  examine  and  report.     No  general  interest  was 
awakened  apparently  until  1897,  at  which  time  Mr.  W. 
C.  Schuller,  the  owner  of  the  property  in  that  district, 
succeeded    in    interesting    scientists    in    the    field.     Mr. 
David    Draper   recognized    some   specimens     shown    to 
him  in  April,  1897,  as  true  diamond-bearing  rock,  and 
in  September  of  that  year,  he  formally  announced  be- 
fore a  meeting  of  the  Geological  Society,  the  discovery 
of  a  true  diamondiferous  pipe  in  the  Transvaal.     He 
said  it  was  enclosed  by  the  Magaliesberg  quartzite,  a 
foundation  much  older  than  the  Karoo  beds  about  the 
Kimberley  pipes.     He  had  visited  the  locality  with  the 
owner  in  August  and  assured  himself  that  it  was  a  true 
pipe.     One  diamond  had  been  found,  and  others  were 
obtained  on   making  a  trial  opening.     Dr.    Molengraf 
then    visited    the    place,    and    confirmed    Mr.    Draper's 
opinion.     The  subject,  with  specimens,  was  then  laid  be- 
fore the  Volksraad  at  Pretoria. 


302  THE  DIAMOND 

The  struggle  for  recognition  being  successful,  the 
necessary  assistance  of  capital  was  obtained  and  work 
began.  In  1898,  the  year  following,  22,843  carats  were 
obtained  in  this  district.  Then  came  the  war,  which  sus- 
pended all  operations. 

Meantime  an  enthusiastic  believer  in  the  possibilities 
of  the  Transvaal  as  a  diamond-producing  country,  named 
T.  M.  Cullinan,  had  been  prospecting  in  that  neighbor- 
hood, and  had  become  convinced  that  there  were  dia- 
monds, and  plenty  of  them,  on  the  land  of  Joachim 
Prinsloo,  a  Boer  farmer.  Prinsloo  farmed  parts  of  his 
wild  tract  in  the  usual  Boer  fashion,  and  rented  small 
parts  of  it  to  natives.  He  was  of  course  aware  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  country,  though  it  is  doubtful  if  he 
had  much  faith  in  his  own  portion  of  it;  the  desolate 
stretch  of  scrub  and  brush  did  not  suggest  visions  of 
wealth  and  magnificence  beneath  it.  Cullinan  wanted 
an  option  on  the  property,  and  was  willing  to  pay  a  big 
price,  if,  after  prospecting,  he  was  satisfied  that  his  judg- 
ment was  correct,  but  the  farmer  would  only  sell  outright 
for  £25,000.  The  property  cost  him  £500.  Nothing 
came  of  it,  and  Prinsloo  tried  in  vain  to  sell  at  his  price. 
Then  came  the  war. 

After  the  war,  Cullinan  made  new  overtures,  but  the 
Boer  had  raised  his  price  to  £50,000,  and  still  refused 
to  give  a  three  months'  option  at  any  figure.  Finally 
Cullinan  bought  it,  some  say  with  additional  expenses 
which  brought  the  cost  up  to  £52,000.  The  farm  was 
the  freehold  of  Prinsloo's  portion  of  Elandsfontein  No. 
85,  district  Pretoria,  in  extent  817  morgen,  431  square 
roods.  (A  morgen  equals  2.11  acres.) 

The  Premier  Company  has  since  added  to  its  posses- 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES    303 

sions,  a  second  portion  of  the  farm  Spitzkof,  No.  31 
(Wilge  river)  in  extent  673  morgen,  420  square  roods, 
and  a  portion  of  the  farm  Kameelfontein  No.  106,  in 
extent  236  morgen,  505  square  roods,  for  the  construc- 
tion of  three  large  dams  in  addition  to  one  of  4,000,000 
gallons  capacity  built  on  the  Elandsfontein  farm.  The 
three  large  reservoirs  have  a  capacity  of  246,000,000 
gallons,  and  are  fed  from  springs  and  borings  on  the 
land.  In  them  the  water  is  collected  for  use  in  the 
dry  season. 

Cullinan  bought  the  property  in  October,  1902,  and 
wasted  no  time  in  getting  to  work.  On  washing  the 
first  boring,  he  got  a  few  garnets,  olivines,  and  other 
stones  usually  associated  with  diamonds,  but  no  dia- 
monds. One  may  imagine  the  anxiety  with  which  an- 
other trial  was  made.  The  second  boring,  on  being 
washed,  yielded  eleven  diamonds,  one  of  them  weighing 
sixteen  carats.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  mine 
which  has  been  prolific  of  large  stones.  In  the  first 
year  or  two,  it  produced  four  of  over  three  hun- 
dred carats  each;  two  between  two  and  three  hundred 
carats  each,  and  sixteen  between  one  and  two  hun- 
dred carats  each.  In  January,  1905,  the  Cullinan 
of  over  three  thousand  carats  was  found,  and  an- 
other of  334  carats  was  brought  to  light  in  the  middle 
of  the  next  month.  Satisfied  by  the  experiments  that 
diamonds  were  really  there,  a  washing  plant  was  imme- 
diately installed  and  put  in  operation. 

In  those  first  months  of  the  mine's  history,  much 
prospecting  was  done.'  One  hundred  and  eight  shafts 
with  a  total  footage  of  2,362  feet,  were  sunk.  Two  bore 
holes,  one  of  them  a  thousand  feet  deep,  and  the  other 


304  THE  DIAMOND 

826  feet,  were  made  and  found  to  be  all  in  diamond!  fer- 
ous  ground,  though  they  also  showed  considerable  waste 
and  inclusive  rock.  Little  water  was  encountered,  ex- 
cept at  the  juncture  of  the  rim  rock,  where  there  was 
considerable. 

The  Premier  was  found  to  be  a  huge  volcanic  chim- 
ney of  diamondiferous  earth  similar  to  those  of  the 
Kimberley  district,  but  very  much  larger.  It  has  since 
been  found  to  cover  an  area  equal  to  3,571  mining  claims 
of  30  by  30  feet,  or  about  eighty  acres.  Of  this  total 
claim  area,  3,441  claims  have  been  worked  down  to  an 
average  depth  of  eighty  feet.  Unlike  the  Kimberley 
mines,  it  had  no  limestone  capping,  but  under  the  tufa- 
ceous  top,  the  crater  was  covered  with  a  red  clayey  sur- 
face soil  five  or  six  feet  thick.  Under  this  lay  about 
thirty  feet  of  yellow  ground  which  gradually  merged  in- 
to the  unoxidized  blue  peculiar  to  the  African  diamond 
pipes.  The  blue  of  the  Premier  is  much  more  friable 
than  that  of  the  Kimberley  mines,  and  therefore  does 
not  need  weathering  as  that  of  the  other  mines  does,  but 
goes  direct  to  the  washing  plant,  thereby  eliminating  the 
expense  and  loss  of  time  resulting  from  spreading  on 
floors.  Below  the  sixty-foot  level  the  blue  became 
very  hard.  It  was  found,  however,  by  sinking  shafts, 
that  it  was  a  layer  only,  about  eighty  feet  thick.  Below 
it,  the  blue  becomes  soft  and  friable  again. 

The  Premier  mine  is  shaped  like  a  pear.  It  is  situ- 
ated on  a  level  plateau  at  an  elevation  of  about  two  hun- 
dred feet,  and  is  surrounded  by  hills  and  kopjes  about 
a  hundred  feet  high.  The  surrounding  geological  for- 
mation differs  somewhat  from  the  Kimberley  district. 
Some  sandstone  outcrops,  but  diabase  is  the  common 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     305 

rock.  It  has  one  great  advantage  over  the  De  Beers 
mines,  in  that  the  rim  rock  is  very  firm,  and  therefore 
is  not  liable  to  fall  as  the  shale  formations  of  Griqua- 
land,  about  Kimberley,  do.  The  contour  of  the  sur- 
rounding surface  also  is  favorable  both  to  the  drainage 
of  the  mine,  and  the  storage  of  water  by  easily  con- 
structed dams. 

The  Premier  crystals  have  a  peculiar  laminated  ap- 
pearance. Many  of  them  also  have  an  oily  luster,  and 
are  quite  blue.  There  are  also  many  false  colors.  Nev- 
ertheless some  are  of  the  finest  quality  and  color.  It  is 
a  mine  which  yields  the  extremes.  The  percentage  of 
bort  and  large  crystals  of  gem  material  is  greater  than 
from  any  other  mine.  The  immense  Cullinan  was  of 
exceptional  purity.  All  the  stones  cut  from  it,  ranging 
from  five  hundred  carats  down,  are  flawless. 

In  the  beginning,  the  Premier  washings  gave  extraor- 
dinarily large  results ;  nearly  one  and  a  half  carats  to  the 
load.  (16  cubic  feet,  equivalent  approximately  to  a  ton, 
now  constitute  a  load.)  The  average  of  June,  1903, 
was  1.45;  of  July,  1.47;  but  from  that  time  the  yield 
steadily  declined,  the  average  to  October  31  being  1.29. 
The  highest  average  for  any  month  in  1904  was  .92; 
the  lowest  .62.  The  highest  in  1905,  .85;  the  lowest 
.26.  The  highest  in  1906  was  .35  and  the  lowest  of  av- 
erage material  .27.  The  yearly  average  since  the  open- 
ing of  the  mine  and  the  value  per  carat  is  as  follows: 

1903   1.29    carats  273.  8.5d. 

1904  793  carats  235.  i.2d. 

1905  609  carats  235.  6.2gd. 

1906  301  carats  283.  4.2d. 

1907  290  carats  i8s.  o.2d. 

1908  258  carats  143.  94d. 

20 


3o6  THE  DIAMOND 

The  Cullinan  is  included  in  the  valuation  of  1906  at  a 
nominal  figure,  and  the  proceeds  from  the  big  diamond 
are  not  included  in  the  figures  of  1907. 

The  number  of  carats  found  and  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion per  carat  washed  is  as  follows : 

1903    99,208^4  carats  35.  6.8d. 

1904    749,653^2  carats  33.  3.6d. 

1905    845,652      carats  53.  4.;d. 

1906    899,746      carats  us.  6.6d. 

1907    1,899,986^4  carats  8s.  id. 

1908    2,078,825*4  carats  73.  2.2d. 

It  may  be  that  the  weathering-out  process  to  which 
the  top  layers  in  these  chimneys  have  been  exposed,  re- 
duces the  bulk  of  the  material  and  thereby  increases  the 
percentage  of  diamonds.  It  is  also  probable  that  the 
first  work  was  done  on  promising  leads.  All  the  Afri- 
can craters  have  streaks  and  pockets  in  the  diamond- 
bearing  earth  which  are  far  richer  than  the  average,  and 
men  experienced  in  mining  there,  know  the  indications. 
Some  spots  in  the  Premier  carried  twenty  carats  to  the 
load.  At  the  beginning  of  an  enterprise  like  the 
opening  of  the  Premier,  it  was  but  natural  that  the  man- 
agement would  wish  to  make  a  good  showing,  and  there- 
fore work  the  rich  spots  first,  so  as  to  get  the  largest 
returns  in  the  shortest  time  possible.  Good  results  meant 
money  for  development  and  a  ready  sale  at  good  prices 
for  the  stock  of  the  company.  Having  established  the 
mine  in  the  public  confidence,  and  equipped  the  treasury 
with  a  surplus,  the  company  could  then  afford  to  work 
over  the  entire  area,  many  parts  of  which  were  richer 
in  over-burden  and  inclusions  than  diamonds,  conse- 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES     307 

quently  the  yield  would  fall  to  the  mine's  actual  average, 
taking  the  bad  with  the  good. 

At  the  start,  the  equipment  was  small  and  the  expense 
of  mining  and  washing  very  moderate.  The  earth  was 
removed  by  endless  rope  haulage  from  the  open  work- 
ings to  the  washing  plant  on  a  small  elevation  at  the  edge 
of  the  crater,  where  the  tailings  were  simply  run  over 
to  the  other  side.  There  was  one  washing  plant  of  four 
pans,  and  one  of  six  pans.  The  diamonds  were  all 
picked  by  hand.  The  material  from  the  pulsators  was 
first  picked  by  skilled  white  sorters  and  afterwards,  the 
tailings,  by  young  Kaffir  boys,  for  the  small  diamonds. 
It  was  difficult  to  get  satisfactory  help.  In  1904  there 
were  three  open-cut  mines  in  work,  and  it  was  estimated 
that  there  were  ten  million  loads  above  the  fifty- foot 
level,  and  one  hundred  and  five  million  loads  above  the 
four-hundred- foot  level,  to  which  depth  the  work  could 
be  carried  on  by  open  cut. 

Constant  additions  have  been  made  to  the  plant,  which 
for  the  year  ending  October  31,  1908,  washed  nearly  27,- 
ooo  loads  per  day,  reckoning  300  working  days  in  the 
year.  In  1909  it  will  probably  be  increased  to  a  capacity 
of  forty  thousand  loads  per  day.  By  arrangement  with 
the  De  Beers,  grease  tables  were  put  in  use  and  the  whole 
plant  has  been  rapidly  brought  to  a  high  standard  of  effi- 
ciency, though,  it  being  an  open-cut  mine,  little  machin- 
ery is  required  compared  to  that  necessary  for  the  under- 
ground workings  of  the  De  Beers  mines. 

The  diamondiferous  material  carries  fewer  garnets 
than  that  of  the  Kimberley  district,  nor  are  serpentine 
and  olivine  as  conspicuous.  Mr.  Troge  describes  it  as 


3o8  THE  DIAMOND 

a  serpentive  conglomerate,  similar  to  the  Kimberley  blue, 
of  a  greenish-gray  ground-mass  inclosing  deep  green 
diallage-like  augite,  some  olivines,  biolite,  magnetite, 
ilmenite,  and  pyrite  with  pyrope  garnets. 

In  the  beginning,  the  diamonds  were  taken  to  Kim- 
berley every  two  weeks  and  sold  to  the  Syndicate,  but  as 
the  output  increased,  they  were  sold  in  the  open  market. 
Later,  as  the  yield  assumed  proportions  which  threatened 
the  stability  of  the  market  and  made  the  Premier  a  for- 
midable competitor  of  the  syndicate  established  by  the 
De  Beers  management,  an  effort  was  made  to  include 
the  sale  of  the  Premier  output  with  that  of  the  Kim- 
berley mines,  under  the  same  management.  A  contract 
to  that  end  was  made  October  28,  1907,  for  a  short 
period,  but  it  was  terminated  in  March,  1908,  and  the 
Premier  Company  again  marketed  its  own  diamonds. 

Notwithstanding  the  decline  of  percentage  in  yield  per 
load,  the  increase  of  total  yield  was  so  rapid  and  phe- 
nomenal, that  the  men  who  had  hitherto  controlled  the 
world's  industry  in  diamonds  were  staggered. 

Owing  to  a  glut  of  diamonds  in  the  market  after  a 
year  of  enormous  production  followed  by  a  panic  in  the 
United  States,  which  practically  cut  off  demand  from 
the  industry's  best  customer,  part  of  the  plant  was  shut 
down  January  i,  1908,  thereby  reducing  the  output 
thirty  thousand  carats  per  month,  but  the  mine  is  evi- 
dently in  a  position,  with  the  plant  to  be  installed  in 
1909,  to  turn  out  at  will  from  three  to  four  million  carats 
per  annum.  Back  in  1905,  the  management  declared 
that  it  was  then  prepared  to  supply  up  to  twelve  million 
loads  of  blue  per  annum,  for  one  hundred  years  to  come. 
Even  at  the  present  decreased  yield  per  load,  that  would 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES    309 

mean  three  million  carats  annually.  At  that  time  the 
company  was  considering  additions  to  the  plant  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  £300,000.  That  equipment  would 
enable  the  mine  to  handle  45,000  loads  of  blue  a  day. 

Under  the  ordinance  of  1903,  which  was  put  through 
when  the  Premier  people  had  little  influence  with  the 
Parliament  and  received  scant  consideration,  the  Trans- 
vaal Government  receives  six-tenths,  and  the  share- 
holders four-tenths  of  the  profits,  after  the  company  has 
first  recouped  itself  for  capital  outlay  on  development 
and  plant.  Since  the  start,  to  October  31,  1908,  this 
outlay  has  been  large,  amounting  to  no  less  a  sum  than 
£1,413,666,  compared  with  which  the  initial  capital  of 
£80,000  is  small. 

Although  the  government  takes  sixty  per  cent,  of  the 
net  profits,  the  balance  pays  enormous  dividends  to  the 
stockholders.  The  net  earnings  of  the  mine  for  the  first 
year  ending  October  31,  1903,  were  £102,863.  The 
year  following  they  were  £667,738.  In  other  words, 
the  net  earnings  for  the  second  year  of  the  mine's  ex- 
istence, were  more  than  eight  times  the  amount  of  its 
entire  capital  stock.  These  profits  were  used  in  further 
developments.  In  the  five  years  since,  the  profits  have 
averaged  over  £750,000  per  annum.  The  diamonds  pro- 
duced in  the  three  years,  1906,  1907  and  1908  averaged 
over  $1,500,000  per  annum.  From  1902  to  1908,  20,- 
000,000  loads  of  "  blue  "  were  washed.  The  company's 
share  from  the  sale  of  the  Cullinan  diamond  according 
to  the  directors'  report  of  February  25,  1908,  was  £116,- 
682. 

The  present  company  was  floated  as  "  The  Premier 
Transvaal  Mining  Company,  Ltd.,"  with  a  capital  of 


310  THE  DIAMOND 

eighty  thousand  shares  of  one  pound  each.  These  were 
later  changed  into  160,000  preferred  shares  of  five  shil- 
lings each  with  a  cumulative  preferential  dividend  of 
250  per  cent,  annually,  and  320,000  deferred  shares  of 
2S.  6d.  each,  thereby  splitting  up  the  stock  into  smaller 
shares  without  increasing  the  gross  capital  stock,  and 
creating  a  wider  field  for  speculation  and  manipulation. 
With  an  earning  capacity  of  four  to  five  hundred  per 
cent,  after  paying  the  preferential  dividend,  the  Premier 
deferred  shares  have  fluctuated  within  about  three  years 
between  20  and  4^,  both  preferred  and  deferred  stand- 
ing to-day  at  about  £8. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  and  highly  suggestive  of  the  ad- 
vanced conditions  which  will  prevail  in  the  new  em- 
pires now  forming  in  Africa,  that  the  two  new  colonies 
of  Great  Britain,  formed  and  governed  by  a  mixture  of 
English  and  Boers,  show  an  advanced  understanding  of 
the  natural  rights  of  all  the  people  to  a  share  in  the  nat- 
ural wealth  which  one  or  a  few  may  chance  to  discover. 

In  the  Transvaal,  the  government  has  established  in 
practice  the  idea  that  natural  wealth  does  not  justly  be- 
long entirely  to  the  discoverer,  but  should  inure  largely 
to  the  people  who  through  their  government  must  pro- 
tect and  uphold  him  in  the  seizure  and  possession  of  it. 
This  just  recognition  of  the  communal  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple is  a  distinct  adjustment  of  methods,  to  the  advanced 
condition  and  enlightenment  of  the  people,  and  is  a  de- 
cided and  advantageous  contrast  to  the  dealing  of  the 
neighboring  Cape  Colony,  where  the  natural,  ready-made 
wealth  of  the  country,  has  been  taken  out  to  enrich  a 
few  men,  who  have  grudgingly  returned  to  the  govern- 
ment the  smallest  contribution  which  could  be  arranged 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES    311 

between  grantee  and  grantor  that  would  placate  the  gen- 
eral public  and  enable  the  exploiters  to  carry  the  coun- 
try's natural  treasures  away.  Whereas  the  Premier  pays 
the  Transvaal  government  sixty  per  cent,  of  its  profits, 
the  De  Beers  Company,  a  few  miles  off  in  the  Cape  Col- 
ony, is  taxed  only  ten  per  cent.  This  unrighteous  con- 
dition, established  in  the  Cape  Colony  by  the  powerful 
influence  of  capital  upon  legislation  at  a  time  when  the 
people  of  the  colony  did  not  understand  the  situation, 
which  permits  millions  of  the  natural  wealth  of  the  col- 
ony to  be  carried  annually  to  the  mother  country  without 
adequate  compensation,  would  place  the  industry  in  the 
Orange  River  Colony  and  the  Transvaal  outside  the  pos- 
sibility of  competition,  were  it  not  for  the  smaller  cost  at 
which  the  new  mines  can  be  operated.  The  area  of  the 
Premier  is  so  great  that  it  can  be  operated  as  an  open 
working  for  years.  It  is  estimated  that  the  claim  area  to 
a  depth  of  70  feet  contains  20,000,000  loads.  It  is  being 
opened  in  a  similar  way  to  a  quarry,  after  which  manner 
open  working  has  been  carried  on  in  the  Jagersfontein 
mine  in  the  Orange  River  Colony,  it  is  said,  to  a  depth 
of  700  feet. 

Roberts-Victor  Mine. 

For  several  reasons  the  Roberts-Victor  mine  is  one 
of  the  most  important  of  the  new  mines  of  South  Africa. 
Its  initial  capital  is  £160,000,  divided  in  one  pound 
shares.  With  one  exception,  the  diamonds  from  this 
mine  have  brought  the  highest  price  per  carat  of  any. 
In  1906  the  average  price  of  the  Dutoitspan  diamonds 
was  8os.  n.52d.,  whereas  the  Roberts-Victor  brought 
only  755.,  but  in  the  value  of  the  yield  per  load  it  far 


312  THE  DIAMOND 

exceeded  any  other.  One  hundred  loads  of  Roberts- 
Victor  brought  over  £260,  whereas  with  a  higher  price 
per  carat,  the  yield  of  the  Dutoitspan  was  so  much 
smaller  that  one  hundred  loads  brought  but  a  little  over 
£100. 

The  mine  is  in  the  Orange  River  Colony  near  Boshof, 
about  forty  miles  from  the  Kimberley  mines.  It  was  ac- 
quired by  the  present  company  from  the  original  owners 
in  1906.  At  that  time  there  were  about  ninety  claims. 
The  company  now  owns  500  acres. 

Work  in  the  mine  began  in  May,  1906.  The  percen- 
tage of  carats  per  load  for  the  first  month  was  .91,  but 
it  fell  so  that  the  average  for  the  first  year  was  .698. 
To  the  end  of  December  the  yield  was  20,406  carats, 
which  left  a  profit  after  deducting  the  expenses  of  pros- 
pecting, developing,  mining  operations  and  registration, 
of  £39,045.  Out  of  this,  however,  the  Orange  River 
Colony  is  entitled  to  a  share,  the  maximum  being  forty 
per  cent,  of  the  profits. 

The  output  for  1907  was  132,809  carats,  but  the  per- 
centage of  diamonds  per  load  was  still  less,  being  given 
as  .536.  It  is  considered  one  of  the  most  promising  of 
all  the  South  African  mines,  as  it  combines  fine  quality 
with  abundance.  The  diamonds  are  of  very  good  color 
and  many  of  the  crystals  are  very  perfect  and  beautiful. 

The  Voorspoed  is  an  Orange  River  Colony  mine  cap- 
italized at  £400,000  in  £i  shares.  Work  commenced  in 
1907,  and  the  first  six  months  yielded  46,340  carats  at 
an  average  of  .21  of  a  carat  per  load.  They  realized 
an  average  of  thirty  shillings  per  carat.  Only  one  mine 
yields  less  in  money  value  per  load,  the  Lace.  Never- 


PRINCIPAL  SOUTH  AFRICAN  MINES    313 

theless  it  is  confidently  expected  that  it  will  be  a  factor 
in  the  diamond  market,  as  it  will  probably  produce  three 
to  four  hundred  thousand  carats  per  annum.  The  crys- 
tals are  usually  small  and  of  mediocre  quality.  The 
average  yield  including  1909  has  been  a  little  over  .19 
carats  per  load.  The  year  1909  yielded  a  total  profit  of 


The  Koffyfontein  continues  to  turn  out  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  ten  thousand  carats  monthly.  The  output 
for  March,  1910,  was  9,803  carats,  which  were  sold  at  an 
estimated  profit  of  £7,500.  At  that  time  there  were  over 
one  million  loads  of  blue  ground  on  the  floors. 

The  "Frank  Smith,"  and  "Otto's  Kopje"  diamond 
mines,  are  situated  in  Griqualand  West,  between  the 
Vaal  and  Hart  rivers  about  forty  miles  from  Kimberley. 
The  former  produced  about  23,000  carats  in  1904  and 
1905  but  did  not  pay  and  has  been  closed  down.  The 
latter  from  August,  1900,  to  July,  1902,  produced  dia- 
monds which  realized  £21,425  exclusive  of  one  of  336^ 
carats.  It  did  not  pay  and  was  closed  at  that  time  and  a 
proposition  made  to  reorganize  the  company. 

In  1909  in  German  South  West  Africa,  14  producers 
won  560,977  carats  worth  £836,000.  Eighty-five  per 
cent,  was  sufficiently  good  to  cut.  The  average  size  of 
the  stones  was  one-fifth  of  a  carat.  About  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  output  was  sold  in  Antwerp  and  Brussels, 
the  balance  being  distributed  in  Amsterdam,  Germany, 
London,  New  York  and  Paris.  The  net  profits  after 
paying  expenses  and  government  charges  amounted  to 
£34,500. 

Several  large  diamonds  have  been  found  in  the  Barkly 


3i4  THE  DIAMOND 

district  during  the  winter  of  1909-10:  a  fine  blue-white 
stone  of  90  carats  and  a  very  good  one  of  65^4  carats 
at  Baboon  Island,  and  one  of  35  carats  on  the  Barkly 
West  Commonage. 

The  diamond  chimneys  are  usually  somewhat  funnel- 
shaped  at  the  surface,  so  that  many  of  the  surface  loca- 
tions on  the  edge  of  them  ran  out  with  depth. 


3i    a 

*.'     M 


II 


v5 


CHAPTER  XIV 

DIAMONDS       FOR      MECHANICAL      PURPOSES.       ARTIFICIAL 
DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND  WEIGHTS 

TN  addition  to  carbonado  or  carbon,  there  are  other 
•*•  forms  of  diamond  which  are  used  largely  for  me- 
chanical purposes.  Of  these  the  principal  is  called 
"  bort."  This  is  crystallized  diamond  not  sufficiently 
transparent  or  clear  to  cut  as  jewels.  A*  large  part  of 
the  product  of  the  diamond  fields  is  composed  of  this 
material.  It  is  estimated  that  one-quarter  of  the  yield 
of  the  Brazilian  diamond  fields  and  about  forty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  African  mines,  consists  of  bort.  Some  of 
the  African  mines  yield  a  larger  proportion  than  others, 
notably,  the  Premier  and  the  Kimberley. 

Usually  it  is  too  brittle  for  drill  purposes,  the  crypto- 
crystalline  carbon  being  harder  and  better  able  to  resist 
pressure.  Nevertheless,  bort,  in  sizes  from  one  to  three 
carats,  is  used  to  a  certain  extent  in  drills  which  are  not 
forced  to  any  great  depth,  or  through  very  refractory 
strata. 

Crystals  weighing  one-half  to  one  carat  each  are  used 
extensively  as  teeth  in  stone-saws  for  sawing  marble  and 
stone  for  building  purposes.  Revolving  saws  up  to  75 
inches  in  diameter  and  sometimes  over,  carry  up  to  100 
diamonds  weighing  in  the  larger  sizes  25  or  30  carats 
worth  $20  per  carat.  These  saws  with  a  rim  speed  of 
10,000  to  12,000  feet  per  minute,  cut  into  limestone  over 

315 


316  THE  DIAMOND 

7  inches  per  minute.  Large  quantities  are  used  in  elec- 
trical machines  as  jewels  for  meters,  etc.  It  is  recorded 
that  Solomon  used  diamonds  to  cut  the  stones  for  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  so  that  the  enterprise  of  our  modern 
machinists  may  be  but  the  resurrection  of  very  ancient 
methods,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Jewish  King 
obtained  his  diamonds  from  the  same  or  neighboring 
sources,  for  there  is  evidence  of  ancient  mining  in  Rho- 
desia, in  a  section  where  late  discoveries  of  diamonds 
have  been  made. 

Small  pieces  of  bort,  and  crystals  which  are  full  of  in- 
clusions and  fractures,  are  crushed  to  a  powder  for  use 
as  an  abrasive. 

Unlike  carbon,  which  is  found  with  the  gem  diamond 
stones  in  one  district  only  in  Brazil  and  to  a  very  limited 
extent  in  Borneo,  bort  is  found  in  all  diamond  diggings 
the  world  over. 

As  there  has  been  no  sustained  effort,  by  controlling 
the  output,  to  maintain  prices,  the  price  of  bort  has  varied 
considerably  since  the  discovery  of  the  African  diamond 
mines.  It  has  depended  largely  on  the  demand  created 
by  the  use  of  it  for  mechanical  purposes.  In  1875  the 
price  for  unassorted  lots  at  the  mines  was  about  50  cents 
per  carat,  but  as  it  was  found  useful  for  more  purposes, 
and  the  number  grew  of  those  who  knew  its  value  for 
their  uses,  the  price  rose  gradually,  until  by  1883  the 
mines  were  getting  an  average  of  about  $2  per  carat. 
These  are  much  less  than  the  market  prices  for  assorted 
goods  during  the  same  period.  Since  then  there  has 
been  considerable  fluctuation,  but  the  tendency  has  been 
upward,  especially  since  the  rough  was  marketed  in  Lon- 
don, though  the  opening  of  the  Premier  with  its  big  out- 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC. 

put    of    bort,    broke    the    upward  movement.     Present 
New  York  quotations  are  as  follows : 

i  to  3  carat  crystals  for  drills $8.00  to  $15.00  per  ct. 

y2  to  i  carat  crystal  for  saws,  etc 3.00  to      4.00  per  ct. 

16  to  20  to  the  ct.  crystals  for  meters,  etc 3.00  to      3.50  per  ct. 

Small  and  poor  crystals  for  crushing 75 

In  the  early  years  of  the  African  mines,  dealers  made 
large  profits.  The  market  price  in  1875  was  about  $4 
per  carat  for  fragments,  and  $10  for  crystals.  It  fell 
steadily  to  40  cents  to  $1.50  in  1892.  It  then  rose  to 
$4  to  $8  in  1901,  since  which  it  has  declined  steadily 
again.  Small  diamonds,  or  corners  of  crystals,  having 
an  edge  suitable  for  glass  cutting  and  called  "  glaziers' 
diamonds,"  have  a  wide  range  of  price,  selling  from 
$6  to  $50  per  carat. 

"  Flats  "  are  thin  crystals  or  parts  of  crystals  into 
which  holes  are  bored  so  that  they  can  be  used  as  dies 
for  drawing  wire.  In  many  of  the  fine  and  delicate 
adjustments  required  now,  in  electrical  machinery  es- 
pecially, it  is  necessary  that  wire  shall  be  drawn  to  a 
gauge  infinitesimally  exact.  Constant  drawing  of  wire 
through  metal  dies,  even  of  the  hardest,  soon  enlarges 
the  hole,  and  consequently  the  size  of  the  wire  also,  but 
with  a  diamond  die,  enormous  lengths  can  be  drawn 
without  any  appreciable  difference.  These  tiny  plates 
of  diamonds  have  therefore  become  valuable  assistants 
in  the  progress  of  machinery  and  its  adaptation  to  ap- 
plied science.  They  are  sold  now  for  $3.50  to  $8.00  per 
carat.  The  dies  for  which  diamonds  are  used  are  for 
drawing  fine  wires.  The  holes  range  usually  from 
o.ooi  inch  to  0.064  mcn>  though  they  can  be  made  ac- 
curate to  o.oooi  inch.  The  wear  of  metals  on  diamonds 


3i8  THE  DIAMOND 

increases  in  the  following  order,  it  is  said:  Gold,  sil- 
ver, copper,  brass,  bronze,  platinum,  nickel,  iron,  cruci- 
ble steel. 

"  Splints "  are  sharp-pointed  splinters  of  diamond 
crystal.  They  are  obtained  from  the  refuse  of  the 
cleaving  and  cutting  establishments  and  also,  since  the 
use  of  the  grease-table,  from  the  mines,  with  the  un- 
broken crystals.  As  noted  elsewhere,  the  matrix  of  the 
African  mines  contains  many  fractured  crystals,  and 
the  grease-tables  hold  small  splintered  pieces  which 
formerly  escaped  attention  when  hand  picking  was  the 
custom.  They  are  used  for  small  drills,  for  turning 
jewels  for  watches,  electrical  machinery  and  similar  pur- 
poses, and  at  present  bring  from  $3  to  $10  per  carat. 

In  the  use  of  diamond  in  any  form  for  mechanical 
purposes,  care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  crushing  or  over- 
heating. The  hard  fragments  of  a  broken  diamond  in- 
volved in  machinery  turning  rapidly,  do  serious  damage 
almost  instantaneously,  and  overheated,  the  crystal  loses 
consistency  and  carbonizes  the  soft  iron  of  the  setting, 
turning  it  at  once  into  hard  steel.  This  applies  par- 
ticularly to  carbon  when  used  for  deep  borings.  A  hard 
blow  will  often  crush  carbon  to  fragments,  and  heat 
injures  the  quality.  A  stoppage  of  the  supply  of  water 
to  the  borer  has  been  known  to  change  the  hard  car- 
bons of  the  drill  to  a  mass  resembling  black  glass  which 
yielded  to  a  file,  while  the  soft  iron  of  the  bit  was  at 
the  same  time  turned  to  steel.  Great  skill  and  care  is 
necessary  also  in  the  setting  of  the  carbons  in  a  drill 
for  deep  boring.  If  one  gets  loose,  it  quickly  tears 
itself  and  the  bit  to  pieces,  and  fishing  for  a  loose  car- 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  319 

bon  through  a  small  tube  several  thousand  feet  down 
in  the  earth  is  wearisome  and  expensive. 

Carbonado,  or  carbon,  is  the  most  important  form  of 
diamond  for  mechanical  purposes,  as  it  is  used  in  the 
larger  operations  of  deep  boring. 

The  colors  of  carbons  vary  from  light  brown  to  jet 
black.  Usually  they  are  lighter  on  the  inside,  but  with 
long  exposure  after  splitting,  the  pieces  grow  darker. 
There  is  a  wide  difference  in  the  quality,  and  the  tough- 
ness can  never  be  determined  by  the  color,  and  not 
always  by  the  appearance.  The  specific  gravity  test  is 
safest.  Usually  those  of  a  dense,  close  texture,  are 
hard,  but  sometimes  porous,  or  open  texture  pieces,  are 
very  hard,  arid  close  grained  ones,  soft.  Formerly 
carbons  were  all  split  in  Europe,  but  25  or  30  years 
ago  Mr.  I.  C.  Yawger  built  a  machine  here  for  that 
purpose,  and  much  of  it  has  since  been  done  in  this 
country.  To  split  a  carbon,  it  is  placed  between  hard 
chisels  or  cutters  and  subjected  to  heavy  pressure  or  a 
blow. 

In  diamond  drills,  pieces  of  carbon,  usually  8  pieces, 
are  set  in  circular  rims  of  soft  steel  or  iron,  4  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  center  of  the  rim,  and  4  on  the  outer, 
placed  alternately.  The  metal  is  burnished  well  up  on 
to  the  carbons  to  withstand  the  strain  and  hold  them. 
These  bits  are  attached  to  tubes  in  sections,  and  borings 
have  been  made  in  this  way  to  a  depth  of  over  6,000 
feet.  Only  carbon  can  stand  such  a  strain  and  pressure ; 
bort  is  too  brittle.  Owing  to  the  increasing  demand 
and  consequent  advance  in  the  price  of  carbon,  these 
bits  are  expensive  necessities  in  mining  explorations. 


320  THE  DIAMOND 

A  bit  for  deep  borings  will  require  8  carbons  of  not 
less  than  3^/2  carats  each,  or  28  carats  for  the  bit,  which 
would  bring  the  cost  of  the  carbons  alone,  for  one  bit, 
at  the  present  price  of  $85  per  carat,  to  $2380. 

The  carbons  are  bought  for  cash,  at  first  hands,  in 
unassorted  lots  of  all  sizes  and  qualities,  running  from 
300  to  1,500  carats.  As  with  all  expensive  material, 
frauds  are  perpetrated  on  the  unwary  by  some  un- 
scrupulous dealers.  Poor  diamonds  are  fixed  up  to  look 
like  carbons,  bogus  carbons  are  mixed  with  the  genuine, 
and  sometimes  unadulterated  frauds  are  palmed  off  for 
genuine. 

In  the  natural  state,  carbons  usually  show  no  regular 
form  of  crystallization,  though  octahedrons,  and  cubes 
have  been  found.  Under  the  microscope,  however, 
they  appear  to  be  formed  of  minute  diamond  crystals, 
and  carbon  powder  is  composed  of  bright  brown  half 
transparent  diamond  octahedrons,  frequently  with 
opaque  enclosures.  Carbon  therefore  appears  to  be  a 
mass  of  infinitesimal  diamond  crystals.  To  one  out- 
side the  trade,  the  stones  have  no  appearance  of  value 
whatever.  They  are  light  in  weight  and  therefore  do 
not  impress  one  as  the  heavier  metallic  ores  do.  Ir- 
regular in  shape,  of  a  dull  grayish-black,  brownish,  some- 
times greenish,  color,  there  is  nothing  about  them  to 
suggest  value,  yet  half  a  dozen  of  them  as  large  as 
hickory  nuts  would  be  worth  several  thousand  dollars. 
Close  examination  under  a  loup  will  discover  a  porous- 
looking  surface  covered  with  angular  indentations  hav- 
ing a  lace-like  appearance  and  a  wave-like  arrangement. 
In  and  about  the  crevices  are  numerous  infinitesimal  glis- 
tening specks  like  the  faces  of  small  crystals.  Some 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  321 

pieces  have  a  vitreous  sheen  like  a  piece  of  molten  glass. 
This  characterizes  many  of  the  carbons  from  the  Morro 
district. 

There  are  certain  risks  attached  to  the  breaking  up 
of  the  large  stones  which  make  them  highly  speculative. 
There  are  sometimes  vicissitudes  of  price  in  the  journey 
from  the  cascalho  to  the  machine  maker,  and  they  lose 
not  less  than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  weight  in  breaking. 
For  the  large  carbon  of  1895  the  finder  got  about 
$16,000;  the  owner  of  the  claim  receiving  one-fourth 
of  the  amount.  It  went  through'  several  hands  and 
was  sold  in  Bahia  city  for  121,000  milreis,  equal  at 
that  time  to  about  $25,400.  The  London  buyer  paid 
about  $32,000  for  it,  and  after  breaking  it  up,  got  nearly 
$36,000  for  it.  The  smaller  one  of  1901  brought  the 
finder  $17,380,  or  about  five  times  as  much  compara- 
tively, so  much  had  the  price  advanced  in  the  six  years. 
The  rapid  development  of  electrical  and  other  machinery 
is  indicated  by  the  rapid  rise  in  the  price  of  carbons. 
In  1884,  $4  to  $4.50  per  carat  was  paid  to  miners  in 
the  fields  for  unassorted  lots  of  good  material.  In  1898 
the  price  was  up  to  $11  and  over.  In  1902  it  was 
reported  in  London  that  £8.10  to  £9  per  carat  was 
paid  in  Brazil  for  fine  quality  carbons  of  the  desirable 
sizes,  though  consular  reports  quoted  $24  as  the  price 
paid  in  the  field  for  unassorted  stones  over  three-quar- 
ters of  a  carat;  $7.20  for  half  to  three-quarters  of  a 
carat  stones,  and  $2.75  for  smaller  ones  mixed  with  im- 
perfect pieces  and  refuse  diamonds. 

The  limits  of  prices  given  by  Bahia  firms  to  their 
field  buyers  to  be  paid  in  the  spring  of  1906  was  given 

by  former  Vice-consul  Rowe  as  follows: 
21 


322  THE  DIAMOND 

Carbon 

ist  quality,  6  to  120  graos 31  milreis  per  grao  =  $42.45  per  ct. 

120  graos  upward   30  milreis  per  grao  =  41 .07  per  ct. 

2nd  quality   (porosis)    15  milreis  per  grao  =±  20.54  per  ct. 

Crystalline    10  milreis  per  grao  =  13.69  per  ct. 

Ballas,  broken  pieces,  6  graos  up  10  milreis  per  grao  =  13.69  per  ct. 

Ballas,  broken  pieces,  4  graos  up  20  milreis  per  grao  —  27.38  per  ct. 

Ballas,  broken  pieces,  3  graos  up  12  milreis  per  grao  —  16.44  Per  ct. 

Fundos   2  milreis  per  grao  =  2.74  per  ct. 

Ballas  or  Borts 

ist  quality  white,  6  graos  up 30  milreis  per  grao  —  $41.07  per  ct. 

Colored,  6  graos  up  25  milreis  per  grao  —   34.25  per  ct. 

A  grao  is  about  J4  carat;  72  graos  =  i  oitava=  ijl/2  carats. 

It  is  difficult  to  tabulate  prices  exactly,  as  they  vary 
according  to  conditions  and  the  average  quality  of  the 
lots.  Though  in  a  general  way  prices  at  the  fields  fol- 
low the  market,  they  do  not  adjust  themselves  as  quickly 
to  the  immediate  demand  throughout  the  scattered  dig- 
gings in  the  interior  wilds,  as  at  Bahia  city.  Never- 
theless, as  there  is  competition  among  the  field-buyers, 
and  they  are  kept  well  informed  by  the  houses  they  rep- 
resent, the  diggers  receive  on  an  average,  a  good  share 
of  the  market  value,  though  naturally  they  do  not  bene- 
fit as  fully  from  a  sharp  advance  of  price. 

As  in  Brazil,  London  sells  chiefly  in  unassorted  lots, 
but  Germany  has  established  a  profitable  business  in 
carbons,  by  assorting  and  selling  separately,  according 
to  individual  requirements. 

Though  the  source  of  supply  is  comparatively  near 
New  York  and  a  large  quantity  of  carbons  is  used  in 
the  United  States,  our  supplies  come  chiefly  via  Europe. 
There  is  a  monthly  steamer  plying  between  Bahia  and 
New  York,  but  several  steamers  leave  Bahia  each  week 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  323 

for  British  ports.  At  one  time  firms  exporting  up  to 
$150,000  per  annum  paid  a  tax  of  $1,500;  if  the  exports 
exceeded  that  amount,  $3,000  per  annum.  There  was 
an  export  tax  of  seven  per  cent,  ad  valorum,  but  this  was 
abolished  for  a  tax  on  individual  shippers  calculated  to 
bring  the  amount  up  to  what  it  would  be  at  seven  per 
cent,  if  all  the  diamonds  shipped  were  declared.  Many 
dealers  met  this  by  combining  to  ship  as  one  firm. 
These  taxes  prevent  the  beginning  on  a  small  scale  of 
export  in  a  new  direction,  though  it  is  probable  that 
more  goes  to  New  York  direct  than  official  reports 
show. 

The  price  of  carbons  in  New  York  at  present  (1909) 
is  quoted  as  follows  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Rose: 

Carbons  for  mining  drills,  3  to  6  carats $60.00  to  $85.00  per  ct. 

Carbons  for  mining  drills,  il/2  to  2l/2  carats. .  45.00  to    55.00  per  ct. 

Carbons,  i  carat 35-OO  to    40.00  per  ct. 

Carbons,  y2  to  £4  carat 30.00  per  ct. 

Carbons,  %  carat   15.00  per  ct. 

Carbons,  smaller    8.00  per  ct. 

Mr.  I.  C.  Yawger  gives  the  price  of  carbon  for  mining 
purposes  in  New  York  from  1879  to  1899  as  follows: 

1879  $  5-00  to 

1880  5.00  to  $  7.50 

1881  6.00  to  10.00 

1883  15.00  to  24.00 

1884  8.00  to  20.00 

1885  6.00  to  12.00 

1886  6.00  to  15.00 

1887  12.00  to   18.00 

1888  10.00  to  18.00 

1889  12.00  to  16.00 

I80X)    I2.OO  tO      I5.0O 

1891  15.00  to    16.00 


324  THE  DIAMOND 

1892  $16.00  to  $17.00 

1893  16.00  to  20.00 

1894  15.00  to  16.00 

1895  15.00  tO   21.00 

1896  20.00  tO   36.00 

1897  31.00  to    36.00 

1898  33.00  to    36.00 

1899  35.00  to    39.00 

Since  which  the  price  of  fine  carbon  rose  rapidly  to 
$95  two  or  three  years  ago,  dropping  back  to  the 
present  price  of  $85  per  carat.  Stones  down  to  one 
carat  in  weight  are  occasionally  used  in  mining  drills 
for  some  purposes.  The  smaller  ones  are  used  for 
emery-wheel  dressers,  turning  hard  stones  and  hard  rub- 
ber, drilling  semi-precious  stones,  eyeglasses,  etc. 

In  1904-6  there  was  an  enormous  consumption  of 
carbon  in  the  United  States,  owing  to  the  great  develop- 
ment of  the  machine  industry.  Sales  amounted  to 
nearly  $3,000,000  annually;  considerably  more  than  the 
amount  declared  in  the  exports  of  Brazil.  Prime  car- 
bon brought  as  high  as  $95  per  carat.  At  present  the 
price  at  the  fields  is  about  f  10  to  £10.  IDS.  per  carat. 

Among  other  things,  diamonds  are  used  for  points, 
lens,  drills,  dental  drills,  pivot  jewels,  glaziers*  tools,  glass 
cutters'  sparks,  etc.  Bort  is  used  for  stone  saws,  pros- 
pecting drills,  emery-wheel  dressers,  wire  dies,  electrical 
jewels,  small  tools  and  to  crush  for  powder. 

Misunderstanding  regarding  prices  arises  from  a  habit 
of  quoting  prices  in  trade  journals  without  stating 
where  those  prices  rule.  The  price  of  carbonado  in  the 
Transvaal  has  been  quoted  at  $60  when  it  was  selling 
for  much  less  in  New  York,  and  there  are  great  dif- 
ferences between  prices  at  the  mines  and  in  the  various 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  325 

markets  of  the  world,  owing  to  the  wide  range  of 
quality  in  the  unassorted  lots  at  the  mines  and  the  varied 
assortments  made  to  suit  the  demand  of  different 
countries  and  also  to  the  fact  that  the  character  of  the 
material  is  speculative.  It  is  also  necessary  to  ascer- 
tain the  exchange  value  of  the  milreis  at  the  time,  when 
quotations  are  made  in  Brazilian  money,  as  there  have 
been  great  variations  in  the  value  of  the  milreis. 

Artificial  Diamonds. 

There  have  been  many  attempts  to  make  diamonds. 
The  difficult  problems  involved  have  excited  the  desire 
of  scientists  to  solve  them  and  the  great  value  of  the 
gem  has  been  an  incentive  to  hundreds  who  experi- 
mented in  the  hope  that  they  might  learn  how  to  turn 
one  of  the  common  elements  of  the  earth  into  costly 
jewels.  Stimulus  was  given  to  these  endeavors  by  the 
discovery  of  the  diamond  chimneys  of  Africa.  Oc- 
curring there  in  the  mother-rock,  it  was  thought  that 
clues  might  be  obtained  to  the  processes  by  which  Nature 
accomplished  the  crystallization  of  carbon,  but  so  far, 
of  all  the  theories  evolved  by  observation  and  experi- 
ment, those  which  were  in  any  degree  carried  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue,  demonstrated  more  forcibly  in  practice  the 
insufficiency  of  man's  appliances,  than  his  ability  to  com- 
pete with  Nature. 

Carbon,  unlike  many  elements,  occurs  in  Nature  un- 
combined  with  others  and  in  three  forms;  as  graphite, 
carbonado  and  diamond.  In  combination  with  others, 
it  appears  as  a  solid  in  minerals,  a  semi-solid  as  in  vege- 
tation, a  liquid  as  in  earth-oils,  and  a  gas  as  in  carbonic 
acid.  At  a  high  temperature  it  vaporizes  without 


326  THE  DIAMOND 

liquefying,  and  in  the  presence  of  oxygen  at  a  high 
temperature  combines  with  it  to  form  a  gas,  the  union 
being  accompanied  by  light  and  heat.  The  problem  has 
been,  how  to  separate  it  from  its  affinities  and  estab- 
lish it  as  a  single  element  in  the  stable  crystalline  state. 

Probably  the  first  definite  theory  on  record  of  the 
origin  of  the  diamond  is  that  of  Sir  David  Brewster, 
who  believed  that  the  diamond  was  at  one  time  viscous 
like  a  resin,  and  that  its  formation  came  from  the  vital 
processes  of  plants,  as  tabasheer,  a  form  of  silica,  grows 
in  the  stem  of  the  bamboo.  This  theory  was  accepted 
by  later  eminent  mineralogists  and  physicists.  Others 
adopted  it  with  various  modifications.  Some  thought  it 
a  product  of  the  decomposition  of  extinct  plants  by 
which,  through  the  evaporation  of  the  decomposition 
products,  pure  carbon,  only  was  finally  left,  and  that  this 
eventually  was  transformed  from  an  amorphous  to  a 
crystalline  state.  This  theory  assumed  that  the  processes 
were  evolved  at  a  low  temperature,  as  graphite  would 
result  from  high  temperature. 

Others  thought  that  heat  was  necessary,  and  that 
small  particles  of  carbonaceous  matter,  contained  in  an 
igneous  rock  or  taken  up  from  neighboring  sources  dur- 
ing the  passage  through  them  of  a  volcanic  magma, 
crystallized  out  as  diamond  as  the  mass  cooled. 

Several  thought  that  large  quantities  of  carbon  dioxide 
in  the  interior  of  the  earth  were  reduced  at  a  high  tem- 
perature by  other  metals  present,  the  pure  carbon  crys- 
tallizing in  the  process.  From  the  fact  that  liquid  car- 
bon dioxide  is  supposed  to  exist  in  cavities  in  some 
diamonds,  one  scientist  formed  the  opinion  that  liquid 
carbon  dioxide  at  a  high  temperature  and  under  great 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  327 

pressure,  would  dissolve  carbon,  and  that  diamond  might 
crystallize  out  of  the  solution.  Experiments  in  this 
direction,  however,  failed  to  dissolve  the  carbon. 

Liebig  thought  that  pure  carbon  in  the  crystallized 
form  was  the  final  result  of  the  gradual  decomposition 
of  a  fluid  hydro-carbon  at  a  low  temperature.  Another 
scientist  claimed  that  such  a  separation  could  only  take 
place  by  the  action  of  heat.  One  thought  that  the  dia- 
mond crystallized  out  of  carbon  volatilized  by  volcanic 
heat,  and  yet  another  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  was 
formed  from  an  excess  of  carbon  during  the  oxidation 
of  the  emanations  of  a  gaseous  hydro-carbon. 

The  decomposition  of  various  mineral  compounds  of 
which  carbon  was  a  constituent,  is  believed  by  many  to 
have  been  the  method  by  which,  during  the  chemical 
reactions,  diamond  was  precipitated  as  a  crystal.  Others 
discredit  the  solution  theory  and  maintain  that  it  was 
accomplished  by  the  interaction  of  gases. 

Professor  Moissan,  the  most  successful  experimenter, 
obtained  diamonds  by  a  combination  of  heat  and  pres- 
sure simultaneously  applied  to  a  solution  containing 
carbon.  Knowing  that  molten  iron  was  a  good  solvent 
for  carbon,  he  took  iron  filings  and  charged  them  with 
pure  sugar  charcoal.  Placing  the  mass  in  an  electric 
furnace  of  his  own  construction,  in  which  he  was  able 
to  concentrate  the  energy  of  100  horse  power  upon  the 
crucible,  and  produce  a  temperature  between  6,000°  and 
7,000°  F.,  he  melted  the  carbon-charged  iron  to  an 
ingot.  When  at  this  tremendous  heat  the  iron  began 
to  vaporize,  he  plunged  the  seething  metal  into  water 
or  molten  lead,  solidifying  the  outer  skin  of  the  ingot 
by  the  sudden  cooling,  about  the  still  liquid  interior, 


328  THE  DIAMOND 

Cast  iron,  though  it  contracts  later  in  cooling,  expands 
when  it  solidifies  and  the  expansion  of  this  liquid  in- 
terior within  the  rigid  shell,  as  it  solidified,  produced 
an  enormous  pressure.  When  the  iron  was  eaten  away 
by  repeated  acid  baths,  there  remained  a  number  of 
crystals,  microscopic,  but  veritable  diamonds;  the  car- 
bon had  crystallized.  The  largest  crystals  he  obtained, 
however,  did  not  exceed  y2  millimeter  in  diameter.  Of 
all  the  numerous  experiments  made  so  far,  if  others  have 
resulted  in  crystals  or  crystalline  masses  which  were 
apparently  either  diamond  or  something  very  like  it,  un- 
questionably genuine  diamonds  have  been  produced  by 
this  method  only,  though  I.  Friedlander  demonstrated, 
it  is  said,  that  graphite  is  soluble  in  fused  olivine,  and 
that  it  separates  out  as  diamond  on  cooling. 

Electric  sparks  passed  through  a  vacuum  with  a  car- 
bon cylinder  and  a  platinum  wire  as  terminals,  for  over 
a  month,  coated  the  wire  with  microscopic  octahedra 
which  were  said  to  scratch  corundum.  A  crystalline 
mass  containing  ninety-seven  per  cent,  carbon  was  ob- 
tained by  placing  lithium,  paraffin  and  a  little  sperm  oil 
in  a  sealed  wrought-iron  cylinder  and  subjecting  it  to  a 
very  high  temperature. 

While  scientists  at  a  cost  of  much  time,  labor  and 
money,  have  patiently  studied  and  experimented,  in  the 
effort  to  crystallize  carbon,  charlatans  and  rascals  have 
been  busy  deceiving  the  gullible.  Not  many  years  ago 
a  dealer  in  imitation  gems  was  very  successful  in  selling 
glass  diamonds  by  adopting  the  idea  of  gold-plated 
jewelry.  He  announced  with  a  great  show  of  frank- 
ness, that  his  diamonds  were  not  diamond  throughout, 
but  that  a  piece  of  very  fine  crystal  glass  was  used  for 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  329 

the  body  of  the  stone.  This  was  dipped  into  a  liquid 
made  of  melted  chips  of  diamonds,  whereby  a  coating 
of  diamond  was  deposited  on  the  surface.  The  finished 
product  was  therefore  practically  as  good  as  solid  dia- 
mond, though  the  cost  was  very  much  less.  Having  in 
mind  the  well-known  process  of  plating  the  base  metals 
with  gold,  many  persons  paid  large  prices  for  his  pure 
glass  diamonds,  and  not  a  few  jewelers  also  gravely 
and  innocently  retailed  the  story  with  his  high-priced 
glass  gems. 

Paste  diamonds,  or  glass,  as  they  really  are,  have  been 
sold  under  many  names.  "  Paste  diamonds "  or 
"  white  stone  jewelry "  are  names  used  when  there  is 
no  attempt  to  deceive,  but  many  of  the  names  given  to 
these  imitations,  though  unaccompanied  by  explicit  false 
statements,  are  intended  to  aid  the  buyer  to  infer  that 
they  are  better  than  they  really  are.  Most  of  these, 
since  the  greater  vogue  of  the  diamond  in  this  country, 
have  fallen  into  disuse,  as  the  "  Lake  George  diamond," 
the  "  Colorado  diamond,"  and  the  "  Parisian  diamond." 
A  few  years  back,  stores  filled  with  cheap  imitation  dia- 
monds with  which  pieces  of  so-called  white  topaz  or 
rock  crystal,  cut  like  diamonds,  were  mixed  and  placed 
under  effective  electric  lighting,  were  opened  in  most 
of  the  leading  cities  of  the  United  States.  Ambiguous 
signs  carried  an  impression  that  the  imitations  were 
either  real  stones,  or  so  superior  that  they  were  pref- 
erable to  stones  that  were  real.  In  some  cases  it  was 
stated  that  real  diamonds  were  placed  among  the  imita- 
tions and  if  picked  out  by  a  customer,  could  be  bought 
at  the  same  price.  The  nominal  price  of  the  jewels  dis- 
played was  one  dollar  each,  but  a  customer  willing  to 


330  THE  DIAMOND 

be  enticed  could  easily  pay  much  more  for  a  piece  of 
the  same  value,  for  some  fancied  superiority.  So 
cleverly  were  these  glittering  displays  managed,  that 
sufficient  profits  were  made  out  of  a  foolish  clientele  to 
pay  the  high  rentals  of  stores  in  the  most  expensive  loca- 
tions, and  leave  a  large  surplus  for  the  managers. 

In  the  past,  white  sapphire,  jargoon,  white  topaz,  and 
rock  crystal  have  all  at  times  been  sold  occasionally  as 
diamond,  but  of  late  years  imitation  diamonds,  of  what- 
ever name,  have  been  simply  glass,  for  fine  specimens  of 
sapphire  and  jargoon  excepted,  glass  looks  better  long 
enough  to  sell,  than  the  other  stones  which  though  real, 
are  not  as  deceptive. 

As  enormous  quantities  of  them  are  used,  much  in- 
genuity has  been  displayed  in  the  manufacture  of  glass 
diamonds  and  the  art  has  been  brought  to  a  high  state  of 
perfection.  The  imitation  of  gems  is  as  old  certainly 
as  Egypt,  but  the  fine  white  glass  composition  which 
with  some  variations  is  used  now,  was  invented  in  the 
seventeenth  century  by  Josef  Strasser  of  Strasburg, 
and  was  called  after  him  "  Strass."  It  was  composed 
of  silica,  potash,  borax,  red-lead  and  sometimes  arsenic. 
Of  the  different  proportions  used  now,  the  following  is 
given  as  a  good  example:  300  parts  powdered  quartz, 
470  parts  red-lead,  163  parts  potash  (purified  by  alco- 
hol), 22  parts  borax,  i  part  white  arsenic,  by  weight. 
This  makes  a  dense  white  glass  and  is  the  mixture 
called  strass  or  paste,  from  which  the  fine  imitations 
are  made.  Great  care  is  exercised  in  cutting  the  fine 
imitations,  not  only  in  the  work  of  faceting,  but  also 
in  shaping  and  cutting  to  proportions  which  will  hide  as 
much  as  possible  the  inherent  differences  of  reflection, 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  331 

refraction,  and  dispersion.  Though  one  familiar  with 
diamonds  cannot  be  deceived  on  inspection,  under  some 
conditions  when  worn,  a  fine  paste  will  escape  detection. 
The  surface  brilliancy  is  often  very  beautiful.  Though 
it  will  not  entirely  hide  the  internal  weakness  and 
vacancy  of  glass  when  at  rest,  it  is  confusing  when  in 
motion.  In  order  to  hold  the  light  entering  the  stone 
from  passing  out  at  the  back,  which  gives  a  glass  dia- 
mond its  weak,  lack-luster  appearance  when  at  rest,  the 
back  is  sometimes  entirely  covered  with  foil.  These  are 
used  for  close-set  jewels,  in  which  the  backs  of  the  stones 
are  not  seen.  For  openwork  setting,  the  foil  is  put  on 
and  just  around  the  culet.  But  these  are  not  popular 
except  in  cheap  gold  jewelry,  as  the  foil  at  once  betrays 
the  imitation  even  to  the  inexperienced,  and  most  of 
those  who  wear  paste  jewels  are  at  least  willing  that 
the  observer  shall  have  a  chance  to  believe  them  real 
gems. 

Paste  diamonds  are  not  as  ancient  as  imitation  colored 
stones.  The  Egyptians,  Phoenicians  and  Romans  were 
adepts  at  manufacturing  spurious  emeralds,  rubies,  and 
similar  stones,  but  they  did  not  imitate  the  diamond. 
Perhaps  no  better  evidence  exists  of  the  late  recogni- 
tion of  the  diamond  as  a  jewel  than  the  fact  that  it  was 
not  imitated  prior  to  the  seventeenth  century.  Since 
then  paste  has  glittered  on  the  persons  of  thousands  who 
loved,  but  could  not  afford  diamonds,  and  has  shone  from 
the  buckles  and  belts  of  many  who  though  rich,  thought 
them  good  enough  for  certain  purposes.  Years  ago  the 
jewels  of  the  stage  were  well-nigh  all  glass,  but  now 
popular  singers  and  actresses  wear  gems  both  rich  and 
rare. 


332  THE  DIAMOND 

Look  into  a  paste  diamond  from  the  front,  and  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  inner  surfaces  of  the  back  facets  lack 
the  shimmer  of  light  on  them  which  is  so  noticeable  in 
the  real  diamond.  The  surface  of  the  stone  nowhere 
looks  so  hard;  the  corners  of  the  facets  are  not  as 
sharp;  the  light  from  it  is  not  as  quick  and  sharp.  Let 
a  diamond  and  a  paste  lie  together  in  the  same  tempera- 
ture for  a  few  minutes,  and  it  will  be  found  on  touching 
them  with  the  tongue,  that  the  paste  feels  warmer  than 
the  stone.  Touch  the  face  of  each  with  a  point  carry- 
ing water,  and  the  drop  left  on  the  diamond  will  hold 
itself  together  like  a  globule ;  that  on  the  paste  will  flatten 
and  spread.  The  sharp  edge  of  a  file  will  bite  the  imita- 
tion, but  glide  harmlessly  over  the  diamond. 

Diamond  Weights. 

The  weight  of  diamonds  to-day  is  reckoned  by  the 
"  carat,"  a  term  which  means  different  quantities  of 
mass  in  different  countries,  though  it  is  practically  the 
same  in  those  markets  of  the  world  where  most  of  the 
gems  are  handled.  It  is  nowhere  recognized  by  a  gov- 
ernment as  a  definite  legal  weight,  but  is  an  evolution, 
peculiar  to  the  diamond  trade,  out  of  ancient  and  primi- 
tive conditions.  According  to  Charles  Edward  Guil- 
laume  of  the  International  Bureau  of  Weights  and  Meas- 
ures at  Sevres,  as  reported  from  the  Commission  of  the 
National  Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures  in  France, 
during  the  late  endeavor  to  establish  an  international 
decimal  weight  for  the  weighing  of  diamonds  and  other 
precious  stones,  there  exists  at  present,  the  following 
variations  in  the  milligramme  weight  of  the  carat  in  dif- 
ferent cities  and  countries: 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  333 

Alexandria    iQi-7 

Amsterdam    205.1 

Antwerp 205.3 

Arabia  254.6 

Berlin 205.5 

Bologna    188.5 

Brazil  192.2 

Constantinople    205.5 

East  Indies   205.5 

Florence  196.5 

France  205. 

Frankfurt  205.8 

Hamburg    205.8 

Lisbon  205.8 

London   205.5 

Madras   205.5 

Moka  1944 

Spain  199-9 

Turin    213.5 

Venice  207. 

Vienna  206.1 

Pearl  carat  207.2 

The  carat  of  205.5  milligrammes,  it  will  be  noticed, 
is  used  in  the  chief  centers  of  the  diamond  trade,  and 
it  is  the  weight  in  use  in  the  United  States.  One  of 
these  carats  equals  four  grains  avoirdupois  or  3.174 
grains  troy,  and  151.42  carats  equal  i  ounce  troy. 

With  the  extension  of  the  diamond  trade  during  the 
last  twenty-five  years,  these  variations  have  proved  con- 
fusing, and  an  effort  has  been  made  in  Europe  to  abolish 
the  old  system  of  carat  weight  with  its  divisions  by 
two  into  y2,  %,  ys,  Vie.  V82»  V64,  and  establish  a 
decimal  system  on  a  base  of  200  mgs.  as  the  metric 
carat.  The  dealers  in  diamonds,  however,  feared  that 
such  a  radical  change  would  disturb  trade,  and  the  at- 
tempt failed.  Governmental  recognition  of  the  carat  as 


334  THE  DIAMOND 

a  weight  was  sought  in  Germany,  but  the  proposition 
could  not  be  entertained,  as  it  was  contrary  to  the  laws 
in  force  regarding  the  metric  system.  It  is  now  pro- 
posed to  substitute  for  the  carat  now  in  use,  one  stand- 
ard carat  weight  of  200  milligrammes,  leaving  the 
metrical  divisions  to  be  acquired  gradually,  as  the  trade 
becomes  familiarized  to  the  idea.  On  October  17,  1890, 
the  Association  of  Diamond  Merchants  of  Amsterdam, 
fixed  the  value  of  the  carat  on  a  basis  of  I  kilogram  = 
4,875  carats,  which  is  practically  the  same  as  the  old 
Amsterdam  carat  value. 

The  origin  of  the  word  "  carat "  is  obscure.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  derived  from  "  kuara "  (sun)  an 
African  tree  whose  fruit  and  blossom  are  of  a  golden 
color.  As  the  bean  when  dried  was  always  of  about 
the  same  weight,  it  was  used  in  Shangallas,  the  chief 
market  of  Africa  in  Galla-land  south  of  Abyssinia,  as  a 
standard  of  weight  for  gold.  Others  trace  it  to  the 
"  keration,"  a  word  taken  from  the  Greek  by  the  Romans, 
which  they  described  as  the  name  of  a  very  small  weight 
or  measure.  An  old  book  says,  "  Monardus  writeth  that 
he  saw  diamonds  in  Bisnager  (Visnapour)  that  weighed 
one  hundred  and  forty  ceratia,  and  every  ceratium 
weighed  four  grains." 

Mr.  Leonard  J.  Spencer,  assistant  in  the  Mineral 
Department  of  the  British  Museum,  who  has  made  a 
very  interesting  appeal  for  the  adoption  of  the  metric 
system,  favors  the  theory  that  the  word  and  weight  are 
derived  from  the  seeds  of  the  Ceratonia  Siliqua  (carob 
or  locust  tree).  He  found  that  the  seeds  of  this,  and 
those  of  the  Erythrina  Corallodendron  (Linn)  aver- 
aged alike  in  grams  0.197,  but  that  the  seeds  of  the  lat- 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  335 

ter  in  the  various  species  were  not  so  constant  as  those 
of  the  former.  Kuara  is  a  native  African  name  for  a 
species  of  Erythrina  or  coral  tree.  The  Greek  Kepdnov 
refers  to  the  horn-like  shape  of  the  fruit  pods  of  the 
ceratonia,  whereas  "  carat "  is  an  obsolete  English 
name  for  the  seeds.  It  seems  probable  that  the  seeds 
of  both  had  an  influence  in  establishing  a  certain  amount 
of  mass  as  a  quotable  weight  which  finally  became 
known  definitely  as  the  carat.  According  to  writers  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  carat  was  divided  into  four 
grains,  but  they  were  not  the  ordinary  grains  of 
standard  weight,  nor  do  they  appear  to  have  been 
reckoned  as  equivalents  of  any  standard  weights  outside 
of  the  trade.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  150  carats  were 
considered  equal  to  about  one  ounce  troy.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  weight  was  estab- 
lished more  definitely  in  England  as  151/4  to  151/4 
carats  to  the  ounce  troy.  The  weight  decreased  in  value 
evidently  as  the  things  it  weighed  became  more  gen- 
erally recognized  as  precious.  The  Greek  weight 
Kepdnov  (ceratium)  and  the  Roman  siliqua  were  a  little 
heavier  than  our  present  carat  (3,174  grains  troy),  as 
they  were  equivalent  to  31/3  grains. 

Whatever  the  origin,  or  however  it  may  have  been 
used  in  India  or  by  Indian  merchants  in  their  trading 
with  foreigners  within  or  without  the  borders  of  their 
own  land,  the  weight  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
adopted  in  India  as  a  standard.  Early  travelers  in 
India  found  the  "  rati  "  or  "  ruttee  "  and  the  "  mangelyn," 
to  be  the  weights  generally  used.  The  rati  also  had 
its  origin  in  a  seed;  that  of  Abrus  precatorins  (Linn). 
Evidently  weights  bearing  the  same  name  varied 


336  THE  DIAMOND 

materially  in  value  in  India,  not  only  at  different  times, 
but  at  the  same  time  in  different  principalities,  as  they 
do  yet.  The  rati  varied  from  about  1.85  grains  to  2.49 
grains.  In  Sambhulpur  it  was  equivalent  to  about  1.86 
grains.  The  ruttee  of  India  now,  for  pearls,  equals 
2.85  grains,  but  in  Delhi,  for  gems  and  the  precious 
metals  it  is  equivalent  of  1.25  grains:  in  Surat— 1.95 
grains ;  Bengal  =  2.25  grains ;  Sindh  =  2.49  grains. 
Tavernier  rated  a  rati  at  %  of  a  carat,  which,  if  he  used 
the  French  carat,  would  equal  about  2.78  grains. 

The  "  mangelin  "  or  "  mangelyn  "  of  Golconda  and 
Visapur  was  equivalent  to  i%  carats. 

The  oitava  of  Brazil  equals  about  17/^2  carats  or  to  be 
exact,  55.34  grains.  The  grao  is  .77  grains,  or  about 
J4  of  a  carat. 

Engraved  Diamonds. 

The  third  stone  of  the  second  row  in  the  Jewish  High 
Priest's  breastplate,  according  to  the  biblical  translation, 
was  a  diamond,  and  in  common  with  the  others  had 
the  name  of  a  tribe  of  Israel  engraved  upon  it.  The 
name  given  to  this  stone  in  the  ancient  writings, 
"  Jahalom,"  may  have  represented  the  diamond.  Some 
Hebrew  scholars  think  it  did.  More,  think  the  name 
stood  for  some  other  stone,  probably  agate.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  diamond  was  intended,  though  the  stone 
used  may  have  been  another  but  similar  stone,  as  the 
ancients  undoubtedly  confused  different  colorless  trans- 
parent stones  with  the  diamond.  The  supposed  dia- 
mond might  have  been  white  zircon,  topaz  or  rock  crys- 
tal, though  thought  to  be  diamond.  If  the  stone  was 
really  diamond,  the  art  of  engraving  diamonds  must  be 


BORT  CARBONS,  ETC.  337 

one  of  those  ancient  arts  which  were  later  lost,  for  con- 
clusive evidence  does  not  exist  of  engraved  diamonds 
earlier  than  the  sixteenth  century.  It  seems  probable 
that  either  the  "  Jahalom  "  of  the  breastplate  did  not 
signify  diamond,  or  if  it  did,  that  the  stone  was  one  of 
similar  appearance  only  and  not  what  it  was  supposed 
to  be,  for  all  the  engraved  diamonds  known,  have  come 
to  knowledge  since  the  date  generally  set  for  the  dis- 
covery of  the  art. 

It  is  said  that  Jacopo  or  Como  da  Trezzo,  or  his 
pupil,  Clement  Birazo,  discovered  the  art  of  engraving 
the  diamond  at  Milan  in  1556.  According  to  Blum, 
Ambrosius  Caradossa  was  the  first  to  sculpture  it.  A 
specimen  of  Jacopo  da  Trezzo' s  work,  set  in  a  ring,  was 
exhibited  in  the  Italian  section  of  the  Paris  Exposition 
of  1867,  and  another  by  the  same  artist,  on  which  the 
arms  of  Charles  V  are  engraved,  is  in  existence. 
Streeter  says  that  the  Duke  of  Bedford  has  one  with  the 
head  of  the  philosopher  Posidonius.  He  also  mentions 
a  portrait  of  the  Spanish  prince,  Don  Carlos,  by  Clement 
Birazo;  the  arms  of  Queen  Mary  of  England  by 
Jacobus  Thronus;  a  signet  of  Mary  of  Modena,  Queen 
of  James  II,  with  an  interlaced  cipher  M.  R.  surmounted 
by  a  crown ;  five  fine  examples,  of  which  four  are  signets, 
in  a  collection  at  Florence,  consisting  of  one  which  be- 
longed to  Catherine  de  Medici,  with  the  monogram 
M.  C.  and  a  coronet ;  one  with  the  Medici  shield  crowned ; 
one  with  the  crowned  arms  of  Portugal  and  another 
small  one  with  a  shield,  arms  and  coronet.  Three  in 
the  Hope  collection  have  the  portrait  of  a  philosopher, 
the  head  of  Emperor  Leopold  II  and  one  with  an  en- 
graved cross.  A  thin  stone  with  the  head  of  Napoleon 
22 


338  THE  DIAMOND 

was  exhibited  in  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1867.  In  the 
Streeter  &  Co.  collection  was  an  old  marquise  ring  which 
formerly  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette.  On  an  oblong 
diamond  in  the  center  was  engraved  "  Marie." 

Old  records  show  that  on  January  16,  1628-9,  £267 
was  paid  to  Francis  Walwyn  for  cutting,  polishing  and 
engraving  the  arms  of  Charles  I  with  the  initial  letters 
of  the  Queen  on  each  side,  upon  a  diamond.  This  was 
the  signet  of  Queen  Henrietta  Maria.  There  is  an- 
other of  Walwyn's,  a  signet  ring  of  Charles  I  when 
he  was  Prince  of  Wales,  in  the  collection  of  gems  at 
Windsor  Castle.  It  has  the  Prince  of  Wales'  plume  of 
feathers  cut  in  it. 


CHAPTER  XV 

HOW   TO   BUY  DIAMONDS 

*  I  VHE  first  thing  that  one  should  do  when  he  intends 
•^  to  buy  diamonds,  is  to  disabuse  his  mind  of  the 
idea  that  he  is  about  to  purchase  another  form  of  cur- 
rent exchange  with  his  greenbacks.  Notwithstanding 
the  elaborate  advertising  they  have  had  as  an  invest- 
ment, diamonds  are  not  an  investment,  in  a  business 
sense,  for  the  consumer,  but  a  luxury.  They  are  prob- 
ably the  most  economical  form  of  luxury  in  existence, 
for  they  do  not  wear  out  as  sealskin  sacques  do,  nor 
go  out  of  fashion  as  fine  clothes  do,  nor  do  they  have 
to  be  fed  like  horses.  They  do  not  require  chauffeurs 
and  a  good  income  for  up-keep.  They  can  be  used  as 
collateral  without  a  search  or  a  lawyer's  fee,  and  will 
bring  nearer  cost  at  a  forced  sale,  on  an  average,  than 
any  other  form  of  wealth,  except  the  stock  of  corpo- 
rations in  which  the  directors  invest  their  own  money. 
They  raise  a  man  several  hundred  per  cent,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  woman  to  whom  he  gives  them,  but  their 
money  value  seldom  rises  above  the  price  he  paid  for 
them.  One  wearing  diamonds  will  be  more  generally 
recognized  as  a  person  of  some  means  than  he  would 
by  carrying  about  with  him  the  price  of  them  out  of 
sight  in  his  pocket,  but  if  he  thinks  they  will  buy  as 
much  money  as  it  took  to  buy  them,  he  deceives  him- 
self. 

339 


340  THE  DIAMOND 

In  one  sense  they  are  an  investment,  for  they  are 
productive  of  larger  returns  in  pleasure  than  most 
things.  They  will  continue  to  pay  interest  in  that  way 
after  a  hundred  fashions  have  come  and  gone,  and  after 
a  hundred  possessors  have  owned  them  and  gone.  So, 
as  the  principal  use  of  money  is  to  get  what  we  want, 
and  pleasure  is  what  we  most  want,  and  diamonds  will 
bring  pleasure  for  an  indefinite  period,  the  man  who  ad- 
vertizes them  as  a  good  investment  may  be  right 
after  all. 

In  order  to  buy  diamonds  well,  one  must  have  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  stones  and  values,  or  good  judgment 
in  selecting  a  dealer  and  faith  in  him.  It  is  owing  to 
the  lack  of  these  in  the  transactions  of  the  general  pub- 
lic, that  so  much  poor  material  is  marketed  at  unreason- 
ably high  prices,  and  that  so  much  distrust  exists. 

It  is  a  fact  that  many  dealers  take  advantage  of  the 
general  ignorance  about  values  to  get  as  much  as  possible 
for  a  stone,  quite  regardless  of  its  value.  It  is  also 
true  that  some,  in  order  to  make  the  sale,  will  represent 
the  stone  to  be  better  than  it  is.  Slightly  imperfect 
stones  are  called  perfect.  Badly  flawed  stones  are  said 
to  be  slightly  imperfect.  White  stones  are  termed  blue; 
off-color  stones,  white ;  brownish  stones,  steel-white,  and 
so  on.  Nothing  is  said  of  cut  and  proportion  when  a 
thick,  or  over-spread,  or  badly  cut  stone,  is  in  competi- 
tion with  one  that  is  well  made. 

All  this  is  due,  partly  to  the  dishonesty  of  some  deal- 
ers, and  in  part  to  the  desire  of  many  buyers,  to  buy  for 
a  lower  price  than  a  dealer  can  profitably  sell  at. 

The  influence  of  advertising  is  peculiarly  great  in  this 
age.  Untruths  so  glaring  that  they  are  ridiculous  to  the 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  341 

trade,  if  cunningly  worded  and  audaciously  and  per- 
sistently stated  in  the  columns  of  reputable  papers,  will 
draw  custom  from  thousands.  One  might  think  that 
business  on  such  a  basis  could  not  be  permanent.  It 
probably  could  not  in  many  lines;  nor  in  this,  without 
constant  use  of  advertising  mediums  and  the  one  re- 
deeming fact,  that  poor  as  they  may  be,  the  diamonds 
sold  are  really  diamonds,  and  to  the  indiscriminate  pur- 
chaser, serve  the  purpose  of  better  stones.  To  illustrate 
the  nature  of  this  kind  of  business  with  an  actual  oc- 
currence: some  years  ago,  an  acquaintance  sat  in  the 
office  of  a  jeweler,  in  a  city  of  some  size,  who  was 
noted  for  his  extensive  and  shrewd  advertising,  and  wit- 
nessed his  methods.  A  man  came  in  to  complain  that 
he  had  been  "  stung,"  as  he  expressed  it,  in  the  purchase 
of  a  diamond  bought  of  him  a  few  days  previous. 
The  dealer  listened  patiently  until  the  irate  customer 
had  expended  his  wrath.  Then  in  a  genial,  good- fellow 
kind  of  way,  he  began  to  expostulate  and  reason  with 
him,  finally  offering  as  proof  of  fairness,  to  trade  the 
stone  for  anything  in  his  stock.  Eventually,  he  got  a* 
hundred  dollars  extra  for  another  stone  in  the  exchange 
and  the  man  left,  smiling  and  happy.  "  You  got  out 
of  that  very  well,"  said  the  acquaintance.  "  Yes,"  said 
the  jeweler,  "  and  the  second  stone  is  not  much  better 
than  the  first."  "  But  how  can  you  hold  your  cus- 
tomers that  way  ?  "  asked  the  acquaintance.  "  My  dear 
boy,"  was  the  answer,  "  I  don't,  but  I  do  business  just 
the  same.  There's  a  fool  born  every  minute  and  I 
spread  nets  for  them.  If  I  catch  them  once,  I'm  sat- 
isfied. Let  the  others  have  a  chance."  That  man  is 
doing  business  yet,  and  has  made  much  more  money 


342  THE  DIAMOND 

than  many  of  his  more  scrupulous  competitors.  He 
never  misrepresents  goods  except  by  inference,  is  one 
of  the  most  affable  and  likable  men  in  his  city,  and 
throws  small  bait  broadcast. 

To  one  of  this  kind,  however,  there  are  many  who 
strive  to  be  fair,  and  endeavor  by  fair  dealing  and 
moderate  profits  to  secure  the  confidence  and  custom  of 
a  loyal  clientele.  It  is  not  easy,  as  another  actual  oc- 
currence will  show.  A  man  came  to  a  diamond  dealer 
in  an  eastern  city  and  asked  him  what  the  diamond  ring 
he  wore  was  worth.  The  jeweler,  not  wishing  to  value 
the  jewel,  referred  him  to  an  importer  of  diamonds  who 
was  calling  on  him.  This  man  said  to  the  enquirer, 
"  Have  you  bought  this  ring?  "  "  Yes  —  bought  it  of  a 
jeweler  in  the  town  where  I  live."  "  Is  he  a  good 
man  —  good  reputation  ?  Has  he  a  good  trade  and  so 
on  ? "  "  Why,  yes,  as  far  as  I  know.  He  has  been 
there  a  good  many  years.  I  don't  think  he's  over  rich, 
but  he  pays  his  bills  all  right,  I  guess."  "  Now,  if  you 
bought  that  ring  of  a  good  man  that  has  lived  in  a 
small  town  a  number  of  years  and  saved  a  good  reputa- 
tion, and  is  where  you  can  put  your  finger  on  him  any 
time,  don't  you  think  you  might  as  well  take  his 
say-so  as  that  of  a  man  you  know  nothing  about  and 
may  never  see  again  ?  "  "  Well,  looking  at  it  that  way, 
perhaps  I  might,"  said  the  man,  taking  his  ring  and  walk- 
ing out,  evidently  somewhat  puzzled  and  only  half 
satisfied.  The  home  jeweler  was  paying  the  penalty 
of  a  general  distrust  created  largely  by  the  sins  of  the 
other  type. 

In  examining  diamonds,  there  are  a  great  many  un- 
considered  things  which  befog  the  judgment  of  inex- 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  343 

perienced  buyers.  It  is  impossible  to  see  a  diamond  at 
its  best  in  some  stores.  One  must  know  the  light  and 
the  surroundings  to  judge  the  stone  properly.  In  other 
stores,  the  light  is  so  strong  that  the  brilliant  reflections 
hide  faults.  Oftentimes  a  strong  sunlight  will  make  a 
false  color  stone  appear  so  blue  that  one  could  hardly 
believe  it  to  be  the  same  stone  when  seen  under  another 
light.  The  general  character  of  the  dealer's  stock  has 
an  influence  on  the  buyer's  judgment.  A  fine  stone  in 
a  stock  where  all  the  diamonds  are  fine,  will  not  appear 
to  as  great  advantage  as  one  not  so  good,  but  better 
than  the  average  in  a  stock  of  very  poor  grade.  Un- 
consciously, the  buyer  is  influenced  more  by  comparison 
than  actual  appreciation  of  quality.  In  a  small  town 
of  the  middle  west,  were  two  typical  stocks  of  jewelry. 
One  of  the  jewelers  was  a  very  conscientious  man,  hav- 
ing a  strong  disinclination  to  buy  or  sell  anything  but 
the  best  of  its  kind.  His  jewelry  was  14  karat  fine 
and  of  the  best  makes.  He  carried  no  diamonds  under 
top  silver  capes,  and  preferred  to.  sell  crystals  only. 
The  other  carried  low  grade  goods,  and  advertized  bar- 
gains. A  man  entered  the  store  of  the  first  and  asked 
to  see  diamonds.  They  were  shown  to  him,  and  prices 
quoted  which  included  a  very  moderate  profit,  so 
moderate  that  the  net  profit  after  deducting  the  expense 
of  carrying  stock  and  doing  business,  would  necessarily 
be  very  small.  The  customer  thought  the  prices  too 
high,  and  expressed  his  opinion  in  terms  that  were  more 
forcible  than  polite.  The  dealer  had  not  much  to  say. 
He  said,  "  I  think  I  buy  judiciously.  I  pay  my  bills 
promptly  and  deal  with  very  reliable  houses.  I  am 
asking  but  a  very  small  profit  and  the  stones  are  exactly 


344  THE  DIAMOND 

as  I  represent  them.  It  is  the  best  I  can  do."  The 
man  was  not  satisfied,  but  left,  and  went  into  the  other 
store,  where  he  bought  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  a 
finer  stone  than  any  he  had  seen  in  the  first  store,  for  a 
little  less  per  carat.  The  fact  is,  the  first  man  had 
nothing  as  poor  in  his  stock,  and  did  not  ask  as  large 
a  profit  as  the  buyer  paid,  but  the  stone  that  was  bought 
was  so  much  better  than  most  of  the  diamonds  in  the 
second  stock,  that  the  buyer  unconsciously  rated  it  as 
much  better  than  it  was. 

Many  persons  have  a  large  amount  of  misplaced  faith 
in  their  ability  to  "carry  color  in  their  eye."  They 
think  that  they  can  accurately  gauge  the  comparative 
color  and  quality  of  two  stones  seen  at  different  times 
and  places.  Dealers  are  not  so  confident,  especially 
those  of  large  experience.  One  constantly  handling 
gems,  will  arrive  at  a  definite  conclusion  about  its  value 
after  carefully  examining  a  stone,  but  he  will  be  slow  to 
form  an  opinion  about  the  comparative  color  of  two 
stones,  unless  he  can  see  them  side  by  side,  or  there  is 
a  very  decided  difference. 

Surroundings  and  prejudices  influence  judgment  much 
more  than  people  think.  A  finely  made  mounting  will 
incline  most  persons  to  think  that  the  stone  in  it  must 
also  be  fine.  It  is  very  difficult  for  some  to  believe  that 
poor  stones  exist  in  fine  and  expensive  stores,  but  they 
do.  Good  clothes  cover  much  vulgarity.  By  the  same 
process  of  subconscious  reasoning,  a  really  fine  gem  is 
rarely  recognized  if  it  is  in  the  hands  of  a  small  dealer, 
or  in  an  obscure  store.  The  general  public  is  apt  to 
buy  on  impressions  made  by  conditions  and  to  be  quite 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  345 

sure  at  the  same  time,  that  they  are  exercising  judgment 
on  the  gem. 

Many  judge  a  stone  by  the  price  asked  for  it.  This 
fact  tempts  some  dealers  to  accommodate  price  to  the 
ideas  of  the  customer.  A  story  current  among  traveling 
men  some  years  ago  will  illustrate  frequent  conditions. 
A  lady,  customer  of  a  jeweler  in  a  city  of  fair  size, 
wished  to  buy  a  diamond,  larger  and  finer  than  any  he 
carried  in  stock.  As  the  representative  of  a  New  York 
importing  house  was  in  town,  he  sent  for  him  and  asked 
him  to  show  his  customer  some  of  that  character.  The 
New  York  man  did  so,  adding  to  his  trade  price  a  com- 
mission for  the  jeweler,  as  is  the  custom.  One  stone 
pleased  her,  but  the  price  was  less  than  she  intended  to 
pay  and  consequently  she  refused  it  because  it  "  was  not 
fine  enough."  It  really  was  a  very  fine  stone,  and  the 
best  he  had.  Finding  that  he  could  not  persuade  her 
to  buy,  he  said  finally :  "  I  have  a  stone  about  the  same 
size  which  is  extraordinarily  fine,  but  I  have  left  it  in 
the  hotel  safe,  as  it  is  of  a  character  not  usually  wanted 
in  a  town  of  this  size.  If  you  will  come  back  later,  I 
will  be  pleased  to  show  it  to  you.  If  that  does  not 
please  you,  I  must  confess  that  I  have  nothing  that  will." 
An  appointment  was  made;  he  showed  her  the  same 
stone  set  in  a  little  velvet  jewel  case  made  to  display  a 
single  stone  to  advantage,  and  asked  a  little  more  than 
the  amount  she  had  decided  to  pay,  with  an  air  of  one 
who  could  do  nothing  further.  She  expressed  delighted 
appreciation  of  its  quality  and  beauty,  and  promptly 
bought  it.  This  man  acted  as  some  dealers  do  under 
similar  circumstances.  They  intend  to  sell  at  a  fair 


346  THE  DIAMOND 

profit,  but  rather  than  lose  business  they  will  raise  their 
prices  to  any  point  satisfactory  to  the  buyer. 

Of  the  public,  women,  as  a  rule,  have  the  sharper  eye 
for  color,  and  the  quality  of  color  has  a  large  influence 
on  price.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  there 
are  other  things  to  be  considered  in  connection,  i.  e., 
brilliancy,  proportion,  cutting,  and  perfection.  If  a 
stone  has  all  the  good  qualities,  each  one  has  added  to 
its  value,  and  some  of  them  at  first  sight  may  not  be  fully 
recognized.  Many  times,  conscientious  dealers  lose  a 
sale  because  they  have  selected  a  stone  critically  for  an 
uncritical  person  who  thought  the  price  too  high,  though 
it  was  really  very  low  for  one  so  perfect  in  good  quali- 
ties. 

A  sharp  trader,  or  a  good  judge  of  diamonds,  may 
sometimes  buy  to  better  advantage  than  others,  but  usu- 
ally the  person  who  selects  a  dealer  of  good  reputation, 
tells  him  frankly  what  kind  of  a  stone  he  wants,  what 
he  is  willing  to  pay,  and  trusts  him  to  do  what  is  right, 
will  on  an  average  come  out  best.  The  dealer  as  a  rule, 
however  much  the  buyer  knows  about  diamonds,  knows 
yet  more,  and  he  has  the  advantage  of  knowing  what 
the  goods  cost.  If  he  has  a  customer  who  is  willing  to 
pay  a  fair  profit  and  shows  no  inclination  to  beat  down 
the  price,  he  will  ask  only  what  he  feels  he  ought  to  get 
for  his  jewel.  If  on  the  contrary  he  finds  that  he  has  a 
contest  of  wits  on  hand,  he  will  prepare  himself  for  con- 
cessions, and  he  has  the  advantage  of  knowing  just 
where  he  must  stop  in  the  whittling  of  price. 

Gem  stones  command  good  prices,  for  they  are  rare. 
Nevertheless  they  are  not  usually  as  high  comparatively 
as  they  are  better  than  the  lower  grades.  If  due  con- 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  347 

sideration  be  given  to  the  rarity  of  very  fine  stones,  they 
are  the  cheapest  ones  sold. 

Many  jewelers  have  a  very  bad  habit  of  underesti- 
mating diamonds  bought  elsewhere.  This  arises  from 
two  causes.  One  is,  the  desire  to  convince  the  owner 
that  a  similar  stone  could  have  been  bought  at  a  lower 
price  of  the  jeweler  estimating.  One  doing  this  gener- 
ally destroys  confidence  and  his  own  chances  for  future 
business.  Sometimes,  in  the  case  of  gem  stones  espe- 
cially, it  is  done  without  ulterior  motives;  the  jeweler 
is  unacquainted  with  material  of  that  character  and  has 
no  adequate  idea  of  its  market  value.  If  one  has  bought 
a  stone  of  a  reliable  house  and  it  is  found  to  be  all  that 
the  dealer  claimed  for  it,  and  by  comparison  with  others 
proves  to  be  satisfactory,  a  judgment  that  may  be  prej- 
udiced, should  not  weaken  confidence  in  the  man  who 
made  the  sale.  If  the  dealer's  statements  prove  to  be 
false  in  any  particular,  then  he  may  be  justly  suspected 
at  all  points. 

A  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  buyer  to  pay  a  fair 
profit,  will  not  generally  militate  against  buying  at  a 
right  price,  for  most  jewelers  are  more  afraid  of  com- 
petition than  they  need  be.  Only  in  exceptional  cases 
will  the  dealer  fail  to  make  his  profit.  Whatever  his 
asking  or  selling  price  may  be,  there  is  a  profit  in  it,  if 
he  sell  his  diamond.  A  good  understanding  will  in- 
cline one  as  a  matter  of  business  to  pay  a  fair  profit  to 
a  responsible  dealer,  rather  than  to  take  chances  with  an 
irresponsible  one.  Irresponsible  men  sometimes  sell  di- 
amonds with  a  cloudy  title.  If  the  buyer  has  no  one 
in  the  trade  in  whom  he  has  sufficient  confidence  to  say : 
"  I  want  so  and  so  and  am  willing  to  pay  so  and  so 


,v 


348  THE  DIAMOND 

much;  do  the  best  you  can  for  me,"  it  is  worth  some- 
thing to  him  to  have  a  good  stock  shown  him  by  one 
who  is  responsible.  It  costs  that  man  the  interest  on  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  carry  that  stock.  It  cost  him 
years  and  money  to  establish  his  reputation.  Stones 
break  and  chip  sometimes  in  the  setting;  it  is  worth 
something  to  be  ensured  against  loss  in  a  case  of  that 
kind,  as  one  is  when  dealing  with  a  responsible  man. 
Unfortunately  there  are  a  few  men  in  the  trade  who 
will  change  stones  if  they  have  an  opportunity.  They 
will  sell  one  stone  and  deliver  a  poorer  one.  Dishon- 
esty of  this  kind  is  very  rare,  however.  Perhaps  no 
trade  is  more  free  from  such  rascals. 

Large  stores  of  good  character  have  their  advantages. 
The  clerks  do  not  always  know  much  about  the  goods, 
but  the  jewels  have  been  examined  by  men  connected 
with  the  establishment  who  do,  and  they  have  passed  on 
the  grade  and  price.  The  buyer  knows,  without  argu- 
ment, just  what  each  stone  can  be  bought  for.  They 
may  make  a  somewhat  larger  profit  than  the  small 
dealer  of  equally  good  reputation,  but  usually  they  can 
also  buy  to  a  little  better  advantage,  because  they  buy 
larger  parcels  and  quantities,  so  that  the  price  would  be 
about  the  same. 

A  difficulty  which  the  trade  has  to  contend  with,  is 
the  ancient  Oriental  idea  still  clinging  to  it,  that  to  do 
business  in  precious  stones,  the  public  must  be  kept  in 
ignorance  of  the  real  facts  about  them.  That  idea  is  the 
survival  of  an  ignorant  past.  To-day  the  people  of 
the  United  States  know  much  more  about  them  than  the 
public  of  any  other  country.  They  also  buy  sixty  per 
cent,  of  all  the  African  diamonds  mined.  The  Ameri- 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  349 

can  may  be  a  little  more  difficult ;  he  may  want  to  know 
more  about  the  thing  he  buys;  be  too  exacting,  and  in- 
clined to  chaffer,  but  he  buys.  People  here,  of  classes 
which  in  other  countries  never  expect  to  own  diamonds, 
buy  a  large  part  of  the  diamonds  sold.  In  other  coun- 
tries the  buyers  are  generally  persons  of  inherited  wealth, 
or  the  newly  rich  who,  like  ours,  prefer  obsequious  serv- 
ice to  low  prices.  Ignorance  helps  to  sell  trash  at  high 
prices  occasionally,  but  knowledge  increases  the  sales  of 
fine  goods  at  fair  prices.  It  is  the  man  who  knows, 
that  is  willing  to  pay  a  good  price  for  a  good  thing  and 
does  not  expect  the  best  for  the  price  of  the  poorest. 
The  ignorant  buyer  is  usually  suspicious.  The  only 
reason  why  the  American  people  do  not  buy  more  of  the 
many  other  precious  and  semi-precious  stones  is,  that 
they  do  not  very  generally  know  of  them.  One  cannot 
want  a  thing,  of  which  he  has  not  heard,  nor  to  his 
knowledge,  seen. 

Unless  one  is  confident  that  the  dealer  will  be  quite 
frank  about  the  stone  he  offers,  it  is  better  to  see  the 
stone  unmounted,  to  judge  of  color  and  perfection.  A 
platinum  mounting  will  hide  a  strong  tinge  of  yellow;  a 
gold  mounting  will  sometimes  throw  an  appearance  of 
color  into  a  white  stone.  The  prongs  of  a  mounting 
frequently  cover  flaws  and  breaks  in  the  edge  of  the 
diamond.  It  is  possible  to  be  hypercritical  in  these  mat- 
ters, but  it  is  only  just  that  one  should  have  all  that  he 
pays  for.  If  a  perfect  white  stone  is  wanted,  it  should 
be  supplied,  unless  the  buyer  will  not  pay  the  price  of 
such  a  stone.  In  that  case  it  is  better  business,  in  the 
long  run,  for  the  dealer  to  be  frank  and  state  the  facts. 
An  observation  of  the  methods  of  many  dealers,  cover- 


35o  THE  DIAMOND 

ing  a  number  of  years,  convinces,  that  whether  one 
makes  a  specialty  of  white  and  perfect  stones,  white  im- 
perfect, lower  grades,  or  any  and  all  kinds,  the  most 
successful,  eventually,  and  who  grow  to  be  foremost  in 
their  respective  cities,  are  those  who  sell  goods  for  what 
they  are,  and  of  them,  the  man  who  sells  the  best,  is 
usually  in  the  van.  The  great  jewelers  of  the  United 
States  have  not  become  so  by  robbery  and  misreprer 
sentation.  They  may  have  been  able  to  command  large 
profits,  but  their  business  has  been  established  on  prin- 
ciple, and  has  been  free  from  deception  and  chicanery. 
There  is  a  strong  and  general  desire  to  buy  under  cur- 
rent rates.  It  is  quite  proper  for  one  to  buy  as  cheaply 
as  possible,  but  the  desire  often  leads  the  purchaser  to 
do  just  the  opposite.  This  is  a  bargain-counter  age.  A 
constant  perusal  of  the  morning  papers  leads  one  to  in- 
fer that  everything  is  now  sold  at  a  reduction.  Inas- 
much as  the  reducers  grow  rich,  after  spending  many 
thousands  of  dollars  to  induce  the  public  to  buy  their 
profitless  wares,  some  preparation  was  probably  made 
in  the  original  price  for  the  reductions  advertised. 
Whatever  the  facts  about  dry-goods  and  other  staples 
may  be,  dealers  know  that  advertised  bargains  in  dia- 
monds are  usually  deceptive.  Undoubtedly  there  are 
bargains,  and  for  various  reasons,  diamonds  are  occa- 
sionally sold  much  under  market  price,  but  they  are 
usually  bought  by  dealers  who  know  diamonds  and  their 
market  value.  The  public  generally  get  the  "  one-third 
off  "  goods,  after  the  price  has  been  marked  up  fifty  per 
cent.  If  a  diamond  stock  were  offered  at  one-third  off 
a  reasonable  price,  dealers  would  not  leave  much  of  it 
for  the  public  to  buy.  As  a  rule,  "  bargains  "  are  un- 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  351 

desirable  goods.  When  they  are  really  bargains,  deal- 
ers buy  them  and  pass  them  on  with  a  small  advance  to 
acquaintances  who  will  buy  at  a  price  out  of  season,  to 
save  money  against  the  time  when  they  will  be  in  season. 
Many  fine  jewels  are  accumulated  in  this  way  by  shrewd 
men  of  means,  at  prices  much  below  those  ordinarily 
paid  for  similar  goods.  There  are  wealthy  connois- 
seurs in  New  York  who  have  gems,  bought  thus, 
which  they  could  sell  to  jewelers  for  much  more  than 
they  paid  for  them. 

Diamonds  when  mounted  appear  larger  than  when 
unmounted.  Even  men  in  the  trade  usually  overesti- 
mate the  weight  of  diamonds  in  a  mounted  piece,  espe- 
cially in  cluster  work,  as  the  massing  of  the  stones  and 
the  metal  prongs,  give  them  an  enlarged  appearance. 
Square,  pear,  and  heart-shape  stones  are  larger  than 
those  of  the  same  weight  in  the  brilliant  cut. 

Beyond  a  good  knowledge  of  color,  cut,  proportion, 
and  the  ruling  market  price  for  the  various  sizes,  the 
difficulties  for  a  trade  buyer  are  not  so  great  as  formerly, 
when  parcels  were  not  assorted  as  closely.  Jagers,  Wes- 
seltons,  top  crystals,  crystals,  top  silver  capes,  silver  capes, 
capes,  and  by-waters,  are  now  separated.  He  must,  how- 
ever, keep  in  touch  with  the  market,  as  prices  for  sizes 
vary  considerably  with  the  demand.  If  there  is  great  de- 
mand for  two-grainers  or  any  other  size,  there  will  be 
quick  response  in  a  rise  of  price  all  along  the  line  of  qual- 
ities in  the  particular  sizes  called  for.  Similarly,  when 
the  demand  changes  for  another  size,  that  will  rise  in 
price,  and  the  others  will  correspondingly  fall  off.  The 
shrewd  buyer  buys  his  sizes  when  they  are  not  in  de- 
mand. He  holds  them  until  the  time  of  need  comes, 


352  THE  DIAMOND 

when  he  would  otherwise  have  to  buy  at  a  high  mark. 

The  dealer  must  also  know  color,  to  be  a  good  buyer. 
Calling  a  lot  "  crystals  "  does  not  make  them  so,  and  it 
is  not  uncommon  for  goods  to  be  rated  higher  than  they 
really  are.  It  should  be  remembered  also  that  large 
parcels  draw  more  color  than  small  ones.  To  judge  the 
comparative  color  of  two  lots,  one  much  larger  than  the 
other,  a  cut  from  the  larger  one  of  a  portion  about  equal 
in  size  to  the  smaller,  should  be  made  for  comparison. 
Browns  are  very  deceptive  in  lots.  Some  dirty-looking 
parcels  separate  to  very  fair  stones,  especially  in  Melees. 

Since  two,  three,  and  four  grainers  have  been  in  active 
demand,  the  importer  is  sometimes  at  his  wits'  end  to 
supply  lots  of  those  sizes.  To  cover  defects  in  his  stock, 
he  makes  up  lots  averaging  the  size  wanted.  If  the 
buyer  is  not  mindful,  he  may  when  he  wants  four-grain- 
ers,  buy  for  example,  a  lot  of  twenty  stones  weighing 
twenty  carats,  in  which  there  will  not  be  a  half  dozen 
one-carat  stones.  Nearly  all  will  be  over  or  under,  so 
balanced  that  the  lot  will  average  one  carat  each.  Be- 
yond the  fact  that  he  does  not  want  smaller  or  larger, 
he  also  loses  on  the  transaction,  as  those  weighing  a  lit- 
tle over  one  carat  are  worth  no  more,  while  those 
weighing  under,  are  worth  less.  Say  he  buys  twenty 
stones  weighing  twenty  carats  at  a  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  dollars  per  carat,  worth  that  price  for  carat  stones, 
and  gets  six  one-carat  stones,  and  seven  each  of  three- 
quarter  and  one  and  one-quarter  stones: 

He  pays  for  20  carats  at $185.00  —  $3,700.00 

He  gets  14^4  carats  worth 185.00  =   2,728.75 

and  5%  carats  worth 160.00=      840.00 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  353 

In  all,  stones  worth  $3,568.75,  or  $131.25  less  than 
if  they  were  all  four-grainers,  and  this  calculation  allows 
a  full  comparative  valuation  for  the  smaller  stones. 
For  a  number  of  years  past,  and  at  present,  the  price  of 
four-grainers  in  ordinary  goods  governs  that  of  all  sizes 
up  to  about  six-grainers.  Eight-grainers  command  five 
to  ten  per  cent.  more.  They  are  higher,  comparatively, 
in  Europe;  here  there  is  less  difference.  As  the  stones 
become  finer,  the  price  for  larger  sizes  increases  with 
the  fineness  of  the  goods,  so  that  large  Wesseltons,  Ja- 
gers  and  fancy-colored  stones  command  either  a  very 
large  per-carat  price  or  a  piece  price  which  does  not  re- 
gard the  price  per  carat.  For  instance,  a  white,  recut 
Indian  diamond  of  about  six  carats  is  held  by  the  owner 
now,  a  Maiden  Lane  dealer,  at  five  thousand  dollars  for 
the  stone. 

Three-grainers  will  range,  according  to  the  demand, 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,  less  than  four-grainers, 
and  there  is  about  the  same  difference  between  quarters 
and  halves,  and  halves  and  three-quarters. 

The  price  of  sizes  declines  down  to  eighths,  after 
which  the  price  increases  at  an  inverse  ratio  with  the  size 
until  a  figure  is  reached  in  excess  of  the  price  of  four- 
grainers. 

The  sizes  most  stable  in  value  range  from  three- 
eighths  to  one  and  one-half  carats.  Melees  from  quar- 
ters down  are  more  variable,  as  the  large  use  of  them 
depends  upon  fashions  which  come  and  go.  When  clus- 
ter work  and  fancy  designs  are  in  demand,  the  price  of 
melee  goes  up,  otherwise  it  is  apt  to  be  slow.  The 
opening  of  the  German  Southwest  African  fields  has 
thrown  a  large  quantity  of  melee  on  the  market,  and 
23 


354  THE  DIAMOND 

though  some  of  it  is  badly  cut,  it  has  seriously  affected 
the  price  of  stones  ranging  about  eighths. 

Few  small  buyers  realize  the  value  of  good  propor- 
tion and  fine  cutting.  They  often  err  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  general  public  do,  thinking  that  a  parcel  of  the 
same  quality  as  another  is  necessarily  cheaper  if  it  is  a 
few  dollars  less  per  carat.  A  better  knowledge  of  goods 
and  a  few  figures  would  show  the  error.  If  stones  are 
perfectly  proportioned  and  cut,  they  will  be  very  brilliant 
and  effective.  Suppose  a  lot  of  such  stones  is  offered  at 
two  hundred  dollars  per  carat,  and  another  lot  of  the 
same  quality  but  cut  thick,  is  offered  in  competition  at 
one  hundred  and  ninety  dollars  per  carat.  One  from  the 
second  lot,  of  the  size  of  a  carat  stone  out  of  the  first 
lot,  would  probably  weigh  from  one  and  one-sixteenth 
to  one  and  one-eighth.  The  finely  cut  stone  would  cost 
two  hundred  dollars;  the  other,  not  nearly  as  desirable, 
would  cost  from  two  hundred  and  one  dollars  and 
eighty-eight  cents  to  two  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars 
and  seventy-five  cents.  As  the  poorer  looking  stones 
would  cost  more  than  the  finer  ones  for  the  same  size, 
the  first  lot  would  be  worth  much  more  than  the  differ- 
ence of  per-carat  price.  This  applies  to  all  sizes,  and 
the  fact  is  particularly  important  when  applied  to  Melees, 
as  weight  is  seldom  considered  by  the  consumer  in 
cluster  work,  whereas  it  is,  in  larger  sizes  and  single 
stones.  Some  dealers  who  know  these  conditions  prefer 
to  buy  the  heavier  stones  at  a  lower  price,  because  their 
customers  judge  comparative  value  by  the  weights  given. 
They  can  carry  from  one  store  to  another  the  weight  for 
comparison,  but  not  the  exact  size. 

Though  it  is  quite  true  that  lack  of  knowledge  about 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  355 

diamonds  among  many  small  dealers  and  some  large 
ones,  enables  cutters  and  importers  to  market  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  not  altogether  desirable  goods  at  prof- 
itable prices,  it  is  also  true  that  the  customers  of  the 
uninformed  dealer  know  less  about  them,  so  that  the 
public  pays  for  his  errors. 

The  diamond  dealer  is  often  confronted  with  prob- 
lems as  ludicrous  as  they  are  difficult.  One,  a  short 
time  back,  received  in  the  morning  mail,  a  letter  from  a 
retail  jeweler,  saying  that  he  had  a  customer  for  a  blue- 
white,  perfect  carat  stone,  and  that  he  could  pay  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dollars  for  it.  "  Kindly  send  one 
such  on  memorandum."  As  the  dealer  would  have  liked 
to  buy  such  stones  for  twice  that  amount,  he  was  some- 
what disgusted.  "  What  do  you  think  of  such  an  order 
as  that?"  he  asked  of  an  importer  who  was  present, 
tossing  the  letter  across  the  desk  for  his  perusal.  The 
importer,  after  reading  it,  handed  it  back,  remarking  qui- 
etly :  "  Of  course  the  man  knows  very  little  about  dia- 
monds. Send  him  the  best  you  can  for  the  money  and 
say  nothing."  The  dealer  did  so.  Shortly  after,  he 
received  a  check  for  the 'price  of  the  stone  with  a  letter 
thanking  him  for  sending  such  a  fine  stone,  and  assur- 
ing him  that  the  writer  would  certainly  send  to  him  any 
further  orders  he  might  have  for  diamonds. 

Though  diamond  rough,  during  the  reign  of  the  Lon- 
don Syndicate,  has  had  a  definite  price,  from  the  time  it 
leaves  their  hands  and  is  cut,  values  begin  to  vary.  Cut- 
ting, assortments,  and  prices  differ.  All  cutters  and 
importers  have  cheap  lots  and  dear  lots,  the  dealer,  there- 
fore, must  have  good  judgment  and  use  it,  to  be  most 
successful.  If  he  is  successful  as  a  poor  buyer  he  would 


356  THE  DIAMOND 

be  more  so  if  he  were  a  good  buyer.  Usually,  unless  he 
has  other  lines  which  assist  him  in  evading  the  results 
of  injudicious  buying,  he  cannot  blunder  all  the  time  and 
withstand  the  keen  competition  of  to-day,  in  the  long 
run.  Little  as  people  know  about  diamonds,  somehow 
it  is  the  man  who  buys  aright  that  succeeds  best.  If  the 
consumer  pays  too  much  for  a  stone,  it  is  a  matter  of 
little  importance.  He  wears  or  gives  one,  a  little  poorer 
than  he  might  otherwise,  and  that  is  the  end  of  it.  But 
to  the  dealer  it  is  vital.  The  cost  of  his  merchandise  is 
the  edge  of  the  sword  he  wields  in  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence. He  should  lose  no  opportunity  to  learn  about 
the  stones  and  their  values.  For  him  there  is  but  one 
safe  course,  and  that,  to  buy  on  his  judgment.  If  that 
is  bad,  he  will  need  great  good  luck. 

To  the  consumer,  the  buying  of  a  diamond  is  not  a 
business,  but  a  luxury.  He  has  neither  the  experience 
nor  the  opportunity  to  gauge  values  closely,  even  though 
he  has  a  natural  ability,  as  many  persons  have,  to  appreci- 
ate desirable  and  undesirable  qualities.  He  must,  there- 
fore, in  any  event,  rely  upon  someone,  to  some  extent. 
His  judgment  should  be  exercised  in  selecting  the  man 
or  firm  in  whom  he  will  place  confidence.  If  the  man 
with  whom  he  deals  is  expert  and  honest,  the  more  con- 
fidence the  buyer  puts  in  his  statements,  the  more  surely 
will  he  get  a  good  stone  and  a  reasonable  price. 

It  is  a  common  occurrence  for  an  intending  purchaser 
to  take  an  adviser  with  him,  or  to  submit  a  stone  which 
he  has  under  consideration  to  a  friend  for  an  opinion  of 
its  value.  It  is  usually  the  old  story  of  "  the  blind  lead- 
ing the  blind,"  and  the  only  variation  in  the  result  is, 
that  not  both,  but  the  buyer  only,  "  falls  into  the  ditch." 


HOW  TO  BUY  DIAMONDS  357 

Advisers  usually  know  no  more  than  the  principals,  so 
to  sustain  the  role,  they  criticise  and  object,  until  the 
dealer,  in  despair,  flatters  the  adviser  and  adds  to  the 
price  of  the  stone,  therefor,  if  he  can.  Advisers  gener- 
ally have  notions  and  prejudices  favoring  dealers  of 
their  own  acquaintance,  and  those  prejudices  are  apt  to 
be  very  much  stronger  than  a  disinterested  desire  to 
serve  the  friend,  and  greater  than  their  knowledge  of 
the  stones  under  consideration.  It  is  more  satisfactory, 
and  safer,  as  a  rule,  for  a  man  to  make  his  own  errors 
than  to  adopt  some  one  else's. 

There  are  a  few  general  rules  which  may  be  useful  to 
the  buyer.  Brilliancy  is  the  chief  quality,  because  no 
stone  of  any  color  is  desirable  without  it.  Color  is  im- 
portant, and  in  the  staple  stones,  is  gauged  by  its  free- 
dom from  any  tinge  of  yellow,  brown  or  green,  or  by 
the  degree  to  which  it  is  tainted.  Tints  of  blue,  espe- 
cially of  a  bright  violet  blue,  on  the  contrary,  increase 
the  value.  Decided  colors  are  termed  "  fancy,"  and 
their  values  are  speculative.  Perfection  is  largely  a 
matter  of  sentiment,  but  it  also  costs  money. 

Stated  roughly,  price  declines  from  four-grainers,  by 
quarter  carats  to  one-grainers.  Three-grainers  average 
about  ten  to  twelve  per  cent,  less  than  43;  2  grs.  are 
worth  nearly  twenty  per  cent,  less  than  35.,  and  quarter 
carats,  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  less  than  full  half 
carats. 

This  rule,  however,  is  subject  to  constant  variations 
caused  by  the  size  demand  of  the  moment.  By-waters 
are  worth  a  little  more  than  half  the  price  of  crystals; 
decided  browns  that  are  not  fancy,  about  one-third;  in- 
termediate shades  in  proportion.  Light  imperfections 


358  THE  DIAMOND 

reduce  the  cost,  according  to  degree,  from  ten  to  twenty 
per  cent.  Lumpy  stones  are  worth  twenty  per  cent,  less 
than  well-proportioned,  finely-cut  stones;  over-spread 
stones,  ten  to  twenty  per  cent.  less.  The  value  of  large 
stones,  and  very  fine  quality  stones,  of  two  carats  and 
over,  is  speculative.  Perfectly  matched  stones  are  worth 
five  to  ten  per  cent,  more  than  the  single  price;  more,  if 
very  large  or  extraordinarily  fine. 

It  is  sometimes  advantageous  for  a  dealer  who  cannot 
use  parcels  of  a  size,  to  buy  melange  lots  or  parcels  of 
mixed  sizes.  Good  judgment  and  discrimination  are 
necessary,  however.  As  all  lots  are  now  closely  assorted 
for  color,  the  dissection  of  a  lot  is  comparatively  easy. 
The  sizes  should  be  separated,  and  then  again  divided 
according  to  perfection.  An  estimate  of  value  on  each 
lot  should  then  be  made  and  the  total  amount  of  all  di- 
vided into  an  average  price  per  carat,  for  comparison 
with  that  asked.  Size  price  rules  to  a  sixteenth  light. 
One's  ideas  may  not  be  always  quite  correct  according 
to  general  market  value,  but  they  will  probably  accord 
with  his  particular  market. 

An  experience  of  some  years  suggests,  that  if  a  dealer 
may  sometimes  say  too  much  about  his  diamonds,  he 
cannot  know  too  much.  To  the  consumer,  an  old  saying 
may  be  safely  paraphrased  thus :  "  Trust  your  jeweler 
and  keep  your  powder  dry." 


WASHING-GEAR— KIMBERLEY 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ORIGIN    OF   THE   DIAMOND 

IN  olden  times  little  was  known  about  the  diamond 
beyond  the  superficial  facts  that  it  was  hard,  bril- 
liant, and  crystallized  in  a  certain  definite  form.  In 
India,  where  it  was  first  found  and  used  as  a  jewel,  im- 
agination usually  answered  the  questions  of  the  curious, 
and  if  the  answers  were  adopted  by  those  in  authority, 
they  were  universally  received,  for  rulers  did  not  toler- 
ate differences  of  opinion.  So  it  was  that  diamonds 
were  believed  to  be  the  gift  of  heaven,  crystallized  in 
the  earth  by  thunderbolts.  The  wise  men  of  the  day 
dutifully  adduced  as  proof,  the  assertion  that  diamonds 
were  abundant  in  mines  where  there  were  also  thunder- 
bolts. 

As  in  these  days,  but  to  a  greater  degree,  people  re- 
ceived the  statements  emanating  from  high  places  with- 
out question,  for  it  is  easier  to  believe  than  to  think,  and 
so  it  w£s  that  for  centuries  of  bookless,  newspaperless 
years,  these  statements  satisfied  a  world  which  had  not 
yet  learned  to  trouble  itself  much  about  the  antecedents 
of  things. 

Generation  repeated  to  generation-  the  explanation,  and 
when  the  gem  began  to  drift  from  the  old  world  of  the 
Orient  to  the  younger  Occident,  the  same  old  story  went 
with  it,  and  was  received  with  the  respectful  credulity 
to  which  such  a  grave  and  ancient  source  was  entitled. 

359 


360  THE  DIAMOND 

It  is  difficult  and  sometimes  bitter,  for  a  people  or  an 
individual,  in  age,  to  discard  the  imaginations  of  youth. 

But  after  four  or  five  thousand  years,  the  growing 
light  of  knowledge  acquired  about  other  things,  fell  from 
a  thousand  lamps  kindled  about  it,  upon  the  diamond, 
and  as  the  glamour  which  had  enveloped  it  was  dissi- 
pated, the  need  came  to  fill  the  place  of  the  going  fable 
with  facts,  for  they  only  could  bear  the  light.  The 
prominence  and  preciousness  of  the  stone  attracted  atten- 
tion, but  its  value  hindered  experiments,  so  that  there 
was  little  definite  knowledge  of  the  composition  of  it 
even,  prior  to  the  seventeenth  century. 

During  the  last  two  or  three  centuries,  scientists  have 
sought  by  careful  research  and  costly  experiments,  to 
learn  how  Nature  succeeds  in  isolating  one  of  her  ele- 
ments in  such  a  beautiful  and  enduring  form.  But  while 
men  have  learned  to  measure  the  stars,  and  have  con- 
ceived an  idea  of  infinity;  to  harness  electricity  to  wheels 
and  engines  and  transmit  thought  on  its  ethereal  waves ; 
while  they  have  filled  their  archives  with  a  myriad  dis- 
coveries of  light,  heat,  force,  and  the  whole  kaleidoscope 
of  Nature;  established  the  natural  rights  of  man  and 
placed  the  compass  of  his  mental  horizon  in  the  heavens 
among  the  gods;  while  this  and  more  has  been  accom- 
plished, all  they  have  learned  of  the  crystallization  of 
carbon  is,  that  it  can.be  done  by  heat  and  pressure,  and 
in  a  very  small  way  to  do  it. 

The  Hindus  believe  to  this  day  that  rock  crystal  is 
transformed  by  lightning  to  diamond.  This  is  a  poet- 
ical fancy,  but  it  may  have  some  foundation  in  fact,  for 
the  power  of  electricity  over  the  elements  is  great,  and 
it  is  possible  that  under  certain  conditions,  it  could  crys- 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          361 

tallize  carbon  as  it  can  separate  the  component  gases  of 
water.  Some  have  thought  that  diamonds  grow.  The 
Hindus  noticed  that  they  were  often  found,  after  heavy 
rains,  in  ground  that  had  been  carefully  searched  many 
times  before.  The  rains  undoubtedly  washed  away  the 
clay  which  hid  them  from  former  searchers,  but  the  find- 
ers said  "  No,  they  have  grown  since  we  looked  last." 
There  are  men  to-day,  not  ignorant  or  imaginative,  who 
think  it  possible  that  diamonds  grow  by  the  slow  precipi- 
tation of  infinitesimal  crystals  to  a  nucleus. 

Shrewd  guesses  have  been  made  in  the  past,  however, 
for  Boetius  De  Boot,  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  diamonds  would 
burn.  Probably  about  that  time  there  was  considerable 
speculation  and  some  experimenting,  in  the  endeavor  to 
determine  the  nature  of  the  diamond.  Robert  Boyle, 
about  1670,  showed  that  part  of  one  subjected  to  a  high 
temperature,  was  "  dissipated  in  acrid  vapors."  The  in- 
complete combustion  was  probably  due  to  a  lack  of  oxy- 
gen. In  1694  Florentine  academicians  succeeded  in 
burning  one  in  the  presence  of  Cosmo  III,  Grand  Duke 
of  Tuscany,  by  exposing  it  to  solar  heat  concentrated 
by  a  powerful  burning-glass.  The  Emperor  Francis  I 
burned  diamonds  in  1751  in  Vienna,  by  placing  them 
in  a  smelting  furnace  for  twenty- four  hours.  Twenty 
years  later  M.  Macquer  again  demonstrated  the  com- 
bustibility of  the  diamond  by  burning  a  large  one  com- 
pletely. 

By  these  and  other  experiments,  it  was  learned  that 
the  diamond  was  made  of  some  combustible  material, 
but  what  that  material  was,  remained  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. It  should  be  remembered  here,  that  combustion 


362  THE  DIAMOND 

as  generally  understood,  is  simply  the  rapid  oxidation 
of  the  elements  of  things,  accompanied  by  light  and  heat 
of  which  we  are  sensible.  For  instance,  if  a  piece  of 
coal  is  heated  to  the  degree  at  which  carbon  combines 
with  oxygen,  the  carbon  leaves  the  coal,  combines  with 
the  oxygen  of  the  air,  escapes  with  it  in  the  form  of 
gas,  and  we  say  the  coal  is  burned.  There  were  some 
at  this  time  who  still  disputed  the  combustibility  of  the 
diamond :  among  others,  M.  Mitouard,  a  jeweler.  In 
the  presence  of  Lavoisier,  the  chemist,  he  took  three  dia- 
monds and  packing  them  in  charcoal  in  an  earthen  pipe- 
bowl,  fired  them.  Upon  cooling,  the  diamonds  were 
found  unharmed.  Knowing  that  they  could  be  burned, 
Lavoisier  was  not  satisfied,  and  after  studying  the  mat- 
ter, arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  powdered  charcoal, 
by  taking  up  all  the  oxygen  of  the  air  at  the  combining 
heat,  had  prevented  any  from  reaching  the  diamonds  to 
produce  combustion.  He  further  determined  the  fact 
that  the  product  of  the  combustion  of  a  diamond  was 
carbonic  acid  gas.  By  experiments,  Sir  Humphry 
Davy  proved  in  1814  that  the  gem  was  practically  pure 
carbon.  In  a  practical  way  Sir  George  Mackenzie  and 
others  did  the  same,  by  converting  iron  into  steel  by  the 
addition  of  powdered  diamonds,  steel  being  simply  car- 
bonized iron.  Mr.  Smithson  Tennant  went  further  and 
showed  that  the  carbon  dioxide  produced  by  combustion, 
corresponded  to  the  oxygen  actually  consumed,  or  in 
other  words,  the  carbon  dioxide  evolved,  equaled  the 
weight  of  the  diamond  plus  the  oxygen  used  to  consume 
it  and  form  the  composite  gas. 

Thus  knowledge  of  the  diamond  was  gradually  ac- 
quired, until  the  fact  that  it  was  simply  pure  carbon  was 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          363 

established  beyond  question  or  doubt  But  it  was  a 
form  of  carbon  only.  Graphite,  the  other  form  in  which 
it  is  found  in  Nature,  to  sight  and  touch  distinctly  differ- 
ent, is  nevertheless  chemically  the  same.  Though  it  re- 
quires less  heat,  it  combines  with  oxygen  in  the  same 
way,  the  resulting  carbon  dioxide  showing  that  the 
graphitic  carbon  and  the  oxygen  consumed  in  uniting, 
exist  without  appreciable  loss  in  the  gas.  In  compara- 
tive tests  it  has  been  shown  that  the  diamond  burns  more 
easily  than  foliated  graphite,  but  compact  graphite  suc- 
cumbs more  readily  to  heat  than  the  diamond. 

Some  experimenters  claim  that  upon  oxidation,  the 
diamond  leaves  no  residue  whatever.  Streeter  says  that 
in  experiments  made  by  Professor  Pepper  under  his  ob- 
servation with  about  one  hundred  small  stones,  a  very 
small  amount  of  bluish  ash  remained. 

When  oxygen  is  supplied,  diamonds  burn  slowly  at 
about  the  temperature  given  as  that  of  molten  silver.  If 
air  is  excluded  they  withstand  the  heat  at  which  pig- 
iron  melts,  but  at  the  temperature  at  which  bar-iron 
melts,  while  retaining  their  form,  they  become  coated 
with  graphite.  M.  Moissan,  using  his  electric  furnace, 
found  that  the  graphite  resulting  from  the  partial  burn- 
ing of  diamonds,  assumed  irregular  crystalline  forms. 

From  the  various  experiments  made  by  a  number  of 
scientists,  it  appears  that  diamonds  at  a  very  high  tem- 
perature without  access  of  oxygen  swell  up  and  are  con- 
verted into  graphite.  In  a  current  of  air  they  gradually 
become  smaller  and  finally  disappear.  If  the  supply  of 
oxygen  is  insufficient  for  perfect  combustion,  they  be- 
come coated  with  graphitic  carbon  and  burn  slowly.  At 
a  very  high  temperature  in  oxygen,  the  edges  of  the 


364  THE  DIAMOND 

sharp  angles  are  first  rounded,  the  crystals  split,  lose 
their  transparency  and  luster,  and  are  eventually  en- 
tirely consumed.  During  the  process  of  combustion, 
successive  black  spots  appear  on  the  surface  of  the 
crystal  and  disappear.  It  also  gives  out  bright  red 
sparks.  If  the  process  is  suspended,  the  diamond  at 
once  ceases  to  burn  and  shows  a  leaden  surface.  The 
inference  is,  that  the  heat  first  transforms  the  carbon 
of  the  surface  to  the  graphitic  form,  which  then  com- 
bines with  the  oxygen  and  passes  off  as  carbon  dioxide, 
or  carbonic  acid  gas. 

Many  interesting  illustrations  of  the  chemistry  of  dia- 
monds have  been  given  by  scientists  in  their  experiments. 
It  has  been  shown  that  if  one  is  sufficiently  heated  and 
then  plunged  into  liquid  oxygen,  it  burns  brightly,  and 
the  carbonic  acid  formed  by  the  combustion,  becomes  in 
the  low  temperature  of  the  condensed  oxygen,  a  solid 
which  appears  like  snow.  The  gas  from  a  burning  dia- 
mond passed  through  clear  limewater  will  cause  it  to 
become  milky,  and  finally,  an  insoluble  compound,  cal- 
cium carbonate,  will  be  thrown  down.  By  filling  a  flask 
with  oxygen  and  limewater,  and  placing  within  it  a 
diamond  held  by  a  coil  of  platinum  wire  joined  to  the 
wires  of  a  galvanic  battery  passing  through  the  stopper, 
the  entire  process  can  be  seen  upon  turning  on  the  cur- 
rent; the  platinum  wire  will  become  white  hot,  the  dia- 
mond will  burn,  and  the  carbon  dioxide  created,  will  act 
upon  the  calcium  hydroxide  of  lime.  At  an  extremely 
high  temperature,  M.  Moissan  succeeded  in  volatilizing 
carbon. 

Having  settled  definitely  the  question  of  the  com- 
position of  the  diamond,  scientists  next  turned  their  at- 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND         365 

tention  to  the  methods  or  method  by  which  Nature 
created  the  compact  and  beautiful  crystal,  and  inci- 
dentally to  enquire  how  and  from  what  source  she  ob- 
tained the  necessary  carbon.  As  to  the  means  by  which 
the  transformation  was  effected,  they  have  succeeded  so 
far  that  they  can  make  the  crystals  in  microscopic  size, 
and  thereby  illustrate  in  a  general  way  the  larger 
methods  of  Nature;  but  whence  she  gathered  the  supply 
of  material  for  her  furnaces  is  still  an  open  question. 

The  process  of  making  diamonds  as  described  by  Sir 
William  Crookes  is  to  select  pure  iron  free  from 
sulphur,  silicon,  phosphorus,  etc.,  and  pack  it  in  a  carbon 
crucible  with  pure  charcoal  from  sugar.  This  must  be 
put  into  the  body  of  an  electric  furnace.  After  heating 
for  a  few  minutes  to  a  temperature  above  4,000  deg.  C, 
at  which  heat  the  iron  melts  and  volatilizes,  the  current  is 
stopped,  and  the  crucible  plunged  into  cold  water  and 
held  there  until  it  sinks  below  a  red  heat. 

The  outer  layer  of  iron,  solidified  by  the  sudden 
cooling,  holds  the  molten  interior  in  a  rigid  enclosure. 
The  inner  liquid  expands  as  it  solidifies,  thus  creating 
an  enormous  pressure,  under  the  stress  of  which  the 
dissolved  carbon  separates  out  in  microscopic  crystals 
which  though  small  are  veritable  diamonds. 

Crookes  places  the  theoretical  melting  point  of  carbon 
at  4,400  deg.  C.  absolute,  and  the  melting  pressure  as 
1 6.6  atmospheres.  He  found  what  he  believed  to  be 
diamonds,  in  residue  obtained  by  exploding  cordite  in 
closed  steel  cylinders.  This  meant  a  pressure  of  8,000 
atmospheres  and  a  temperature  of  about  5,400  deg. 
absolute. 

Prof.    Moissan   first    crystallized    carbon    artificially. 


366  THE  DIAMOND 

His  method,  which  has  been  followed  by  other  chemists, 
is  almost  identical  with  that  of  Sir  William  Crookes, 
except  that  he  plunged  the  carbon-saturated  iron  into 
molten  lead,  to  act  as  a  binder  for  the  expansion  by 
cooling  of  the  interior  mass. 

Carbon  at  a  high  temperature  will  seize  on  and 
combine  with  oxygen  if  it  exists  in  any  compound,  air 
or  what  not,  with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  It 
volatilizes  at  the  ordinary  pressure  at  about  3,600  deg. 
C.  and  passes  from  a  solid  to  a  gaseous  state  without 
liquefying,  but  as  with  other  bodies  of  similar  action,  the 
addition  of  sufficient  pressure  at  the  necessary  tempera- 
ture is  thought  to  produce  liquefaction  and  with 
cooling,  crystallization.  The  difficulties,  therefore,  which 
scientists  had  to  contend  with  were,  first,  to  secure  the 
enormous  temperature  necessary  to  volatilize  the  carbon. 
This  was  obtained  by  the  development  of  the  electrical 
furnace.  Second,  to  hold  the  carbon  inert,  and  prevent 
its  escape  by  combining  with  oxygen  and  flying  off  as 
carbonic  acid  gas.  As  it  was  known  that  molten  iron 
•will  dissolve  carbon,  and  that  any  excess  of  carbon 
beyond  that  which  the  iron  can  hold  will  separate  on 
cooling  in  the  form  of  kish,  which  are  crystalline 
graphite  plates,  iron  filings  were  used  to  enclose  the 
charcoal,  and  the  whole  was  packed  in  a  carbon  crucible. 
The  problem  of  pressure  was  solved  as  described,  by 
the  expansion  of  a  cooling  interior  mass  within  the  rigid 
enclosure  of  a  suddenly  cooled  exterior  shell. 

From  these  experiments  the  most  generally  accepted 
hypothesis  has  been  advanced,  that  diamonds  are  a 
form  of  carbon  produced  by  heat  and  pressure,  but  how 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          367 

Nature  obtained  the  carbon,  held  it  inert  from  its  af- 
finities, and  subjected  it  to  the  necessary  forces,  still 
keeps  the  world  guessing. 

The  largest  diamond  made  artificially  was  less  than 
one  millimeter  across.  Moissan  several  times  obtained 
as  many  as  ten  to  fifteen  from  a  single  ingot,  of  which 
the  largest  was  0.75  mm.  long,  the  octahedra  being  0.2 
mm.  With  the  transparent  pieces  obtained  by  artificial 
process  are  some  that  are  black  and  some  amorphous. 
Many  are  shattered,  as  if  they  had  burst  in  pieces  when 
released  from  pressure.  Others  break  and  splinter, 
weeks  and  even  months  after  they  are  liberated,  the 
fissures  being  covered  with  minute  cubes.  This  tend- 
ency to  explode  occurs  among  the  Kimberley  diamonds, 
where  it  is  not  uncommon  for  one,  on  being  released 
from  the  matrix,  to  burst  asunder,  especially  when 
warmed  by  handling  or  carrying  it  on  the  person. 
Large  stones  are  more  apt  to  do  this  than  smaller  ones. 
It  is  said  that  in  the  old  times  of  individual  claims  in 
Africa,  miners  would  encourage  responsible  men  to 
handle  and  carry  large  crystals  just  mined,  thereby 
transferring  the  liability  of  loss  at  a  critical  period.  It 
is  also  reported  that  it  was  a  common  practice  in  ship- 
ping large  stones  to  England,  to  embed  them  in  raw  po- 
tatoes as  a  safeguard.  Later  and  careful  observation 
has  shown  that  the  stones  which  explode  in  this  manner 
are  always  pale  brown  or  smoky. 

The  fact  that  some  diamonds  taken  from  the  African 
mines,  burst  after  being  released  from  the  matrix,  as 
artificial  ones  do,  is  accepted  by  many  as  evidence  that 
they  were  formed  under  great  pressure.  Moissan 


368  THE  DIAMOND 

claimed  that  the  form  of  the  carbon  depends  upon  the 
amount  of  pressure  existing  at  the  temperature  which 
permits  transformation. 

Some  argue  that  these  explosions  are  due  to  gas  held 
under  great  pressure  in  the  interior  of  the  crystal.  Mr. 
Williams  declares  that  to  be  an  argument  against  the 
theory  of  formation  in  an  igneous  magma  at  high  tem- 
perature. Broken  diamonds  are  frequently  found  in  the 
diamondiferous  pipes  of  South  Africa.  Though  the 
cause  of  the  fracture  is  unknown,  it  has  been  ascribed  to 
the  volcanic  action  by  which  the  diamond-bearing  clay 
was  forced  through  intervening  strata  to  the  surface. 

Many  theories  have  been  advanced  as  to  the  source 
from  which  Nature  obtained  the  carbon.  Newton  and 
later  eminent  scientists  believed  it  to  be  of  vegetable 
origin,  some  basing  their  conclusions  mainly  on  the 
microscopic  study  of  the  residual  ash.  Crookes  on  the 
other  hand  asserts  that  iron  is  the  chief  constituent  of 
the  ash,  and  uses  that  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  deep- 
seated  masses  of  molten  iron  saturated  with  carbon,  a 
larger  process  of  the  method  employed  in  the  laboratory 
by  himself  and  Moissan.  In  opposition  to  this  Mr. 
Williams  states  that  many  exhaustive  tests  which  he  has 
made  with  all  kinds  of  diamonds  for  iron,  metallic  or 
oxidized,  with  powerful  magnetic  apparatus,  indicated 
either  an  entire  absence  of  iron,  or  infinitesimal  traces 
only.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  crystallization  appears 
to  depend  largely  on  the  complete  segregation  of  the 
carbon  from  that  with  which  it  was  previously  combined, 
this  argument  against  the  theory  of  Crookes  does  not 
appear  forcible.  As  science  has  made  diamonds  from 
saturated  molten  iron,  Nature  may  certainly  have  used 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND         369 

the  same  means,  though  the  indications  are  that  it  could 
not  have  been  the  only  method. 

Liebig,  Dana  and  others  concluded  that  diamond  is 
the  product  of  the  gradual  decay  of  organic  matter  un- 
der influences  at  present  unknown.  The  former  op- 
posed the  theory  of  high  temperature  because  under  such 
the  carbon  would  not  have  crystallized,  but  would  have 
separated  as  a  black  powder.  The  experiments  of 
Crookes  and  Moissan  contravert  this,  as  they  did  crystal- 
lize carbon  under  high  temperature,  though  they  em- 
ployed another  agency  in  conjunction  which  appears  not 
to  have  entered  into  Liebig's  calculations,  i.  e.,  pressure. 

The  theory  advanced  by  the  late  Prof.  Carvill  Lewis, 
that  the  carbon  was  derived  from  carbonaceous  shales 
decomposed  by  the  action  of  an  igneous  magma  forced 
through  them  by  volcanic  action,  is  considered  disproved 
by  the  fact  that  there  are  no  carbonaceous  shales  in  the 
pipes  near  Pretoria,  though  they  contain  many  diamonds. 
Such  shales  do  overlay  the  lower  strata  surrounding 
most  diamond  pipes,  and  as  the  volcanic  filling  of  the 
Pretoria  pipes  may  have  come  from  foreign  sources, 
the  theory  is  tenable. 

Some  have  thought  that  diamond  may  have  been 
formed  from  anthracite,  possibly  without  passing  from  a 
solid  state. 

Eclogite  deep  in  the  earth  was  suggested  by  Professor 
Bonney  as  the  possible  matrix  of  the  diamond,  but  Mr. 
Williams  answers  that  eclogite  is  found  in  all  the  Kim- 
berley  mines  and  is  thrown  out  in  quantities  as  waste 
rock,  and  that  he  had  over  twenty  tons  of  it  crushed  and 
carefully  examined,  without  finding  a  diamond.  The 

idea  seems  to  have  originated  with  the  observation  that 
24 


THE  DIAMOND 

eclogite  bowlders  were  found  with  rock  of  the  blue- 
ground  type  in  Africa  and  the  diamond  region  of  New 
South  Wales.  Dr.  F.  W.  Voit  is  reported,  however,  to 
say  that  both  graphite  and  diamond  have  been  found  in 
the  eclogite  concretions  of  the  Roberts- Victor  mine. 

Carbonic  acid  liquefied  and  held  under  great  pressure 
deep  in  the  earth,  has  been  suggested  as  a  probable 
origin  of  the  diamond.  The  idea  apparently  is  that  the 
liquefied  gas  coming  in  contact  with  some  form  of  car- 
bon preexisting,  the  carbon  would  be  dissolved,  and  by 
the  slow  evaporation  of  carbonic  acid,  the  remaining 
carbon  would  crystallize.  If,  however,  by  upheaval  there 
was  a  sudden  relief  from  pressure,  a  quick  evaporation 
would  precipitate  the  carbon  in  the  compact  form  of  car- 
bonado. 

Similar  to  this  is  the  theory  advocated  by  several 
eminent  men,  that  pure  carbon  was  separated  by  elec- 
tricity from  carbonic  acid  surrounded  by  reducing  agents. 
Other  chemists  have  thought  that  diamond  may  have 
been  formed  by  the  gradual  decomposition  of  gaseous 
hydrocarbons,  whereby  the  hydrogen  escaping  through 
fissures,  by  oxidation  was  converted  into  water,  part  of 
the  carbon  into  carbonic  acid,  and  the  remaining  carbon 
left  in  a  free  state,  crystallized.  It  is  said  black  diamond 
was  obtained  by  Rousseau  by  subjecting  acetylene  to 
electric  furnace  heat. 

It  is  reported  that  Dr.  Burton  of  Cambridge  has  suc- 
ceeded in  crystallizing  carbon  by  means  which  do  not  in- 
clude very  high  temperature  and  great  pressure.  His 
method  is  founded  on  the  idea  that  diamonds  are  simply 
a  denser  form  of  charcoal.  He  used  an  alloy  of  lead 
and  metallic  calcium  to  hold  charcoal  in  solution.  To 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          371 

separate  the  calcium  he  introduced  steam  into  the  fused 
mass,  whereby  part  of  the  carbon  crystallized.  It  is  said 
that  if  the  alloy  is  in  a  state  of  ignition  when  the  steam 
is  introduced,  graphite  crystals  are  formed,  but  if  at  a 
lower  temperature,  diamond  crystals.  The  crystals  ob- 
tained by  Dr.  Burton  are  said  to  possess  an  unusually 
high  power  of  refraction.  These  experiments  have 
strengthened  the  belief  of  some  that  Nature  used  some 
solvent  for  carbon,  as  yet  unknown,  which  by  evap- 
oration left  part  of  the  carbon  in  the  crystallized  form, 
as  the  crystals  of  other  minerals  are. 

Hasslinger  and  others  claimed  to  have  obtained  micro- 
scopic diamonds  from  carbon  dissolved  in  molten  sili- 
cates, which  crystallized  as  the  mass  cooled. 

The  conditions  under  which  diamonds  were  found 
prior  to  the  African  discoveries  afforded  no  clue  to  their 
origin.  In  Africa  it  is  evident  that  they  are  of 
subterranean  origin,  though  a  full  consideration  of  the 
conditions  there  suggests  the  possibility  that  diamonds 
were  not  always  produced  by  exactly  the  same  methods, 
or  if  so,  that  they  were  crystallized  under  somewhat 
varying  conditions  and  were  forced  to  the  surface  in 
material  which,  if  the  original  matrix,  has  since  passed 
through  a  process  of  alteration. 

As  scientific  experiments  have  demonstrated  that  the 
various  forms  of  crystallized  carbon  can  be  produced 
artificially  by  a  combination  of  heat  and  pressure,  and 
we  find  in  Nature  that  they  come  from  volcanic  sources, 
also  that  they  exist,  in  form  identical  with  the  terrestrial 
crystals,  in  meteorites,  which  are  fused  masses,  heat  and 
pressure  appear  to  have  been  present  in  the  laboratory  of 
Nature  during  their  production,  though  the  experiments 


372  THE  DIAMOND 

of  Dr.  Burton  suggest  that  the  degree  needful  depends 
on  conditions.  Some  are  inclined  to  think  that  in  the 
presence  of  favorable  accessories,  pressure  only  is 
necessary. 

The  Kimberley  mines  of  South  Africa  lie  in  a  cluster 
within  a  radius  of  a  few  miles.  These  mines,  together 
with  others  in  what  was  the  Orange  Free  State  and 
elsewhere,  come  to  the  surface  in  a  great  plateau  extend- 
ing from  the  Transvaal  to  the  Bokkeveldt  mountains  at 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  plateau  varies  in  eleva- 
tion from  2,700  to  6,000  feet  above  sea  level,  being  4,000 
feet  above,  where  the  four  principal  mines  are  situated 
at  Kimberley. 

Until  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in  Africa,  in  what  is 
believed  to  be  the  matrix  in  which  they  were  formed, 
there  were  few  hints  of  its  origin  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  diamond's  lodgment.  It  was  found  always  in 
deposits  left  by  the  waters,  and  the  beds  in  which  it  lay 
always  showed  the  alterations  of  age  and  exposure.  The 
gem,  unscathed,  rested  in  the  decomposed  fragments  of 
the  matrix  that  ages  back  had  bound  it.  That  the  moun- 
tains were  its  original  home  is  evident,  for  the  diamond- 
iferous  deposits  are  on  high  plateaus,  on  the  sides  of 
the  mountains,  in  the  beds  of  old  mountain  water- 
courses, on  the  hillside  banks  and  in  the  beds  of  the  new 
streams,  and  sometimes  far  away  in  the  plains  below, 
where  the  mountain  torrents  have  rolled  them.  And  the 
crystals  hold  a  record  of  the  long,  slow  journey.  In  the 
mountains,  their  corners  are  sharp  and  clear,  but  as  they 
get  farther  from  home,  they  become  more  and  more 
worn  and  rounded.  Up  in  the  hilltops,  the  big  crystals, 
wedged  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  and  in  the  corners 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND         373 

among  the  bowlders,  resisted  the  drive  of  torrents  which 
carried  off  the  smaller  ones  with  the  sand,  and  held  fast, 
each  in  turn,  near  or  far,  finding  at  last  an  anchorage 
where  it  could  await  the  coming  of  man.  So  long  have 
they  lain,  that  in  some  places  the  debris  of  succeeding 
ages  has  buried  them  many  feet  deep  from  the  surface. 
At  every  diamond  deposit  the  world  over,  the  signs  all 
point  to  the  headwaters  of  the  rivers  in  the  mountains, 
but  there  the  clue  fails,  for  the  rocks  beneath  and  the 
sky  above  are  silent. 

With  the  discovery  of  the  African  diamond  chimneys 
came  the  conviction  that  Nature's  laboratory  for  the 
crystallization  of  carbon  was  deep  down  in  the  earth, 
from  which  place  she  belched  the  product  forth  to  the 
surface,  to  be  weathered  and  washed  and  scattered 
hither  and  thither  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  succes- 
sive cataclysms  broke  up  the  shielding  walls  of  rock  and 
exposed  their  precious  contents  to  the  surface  elements. 

This  advance  of  knowledge  gave  rise  to  many  new 
theories,  occasioned  many  and  varied  experiments,  and 
suggested  not  a  few  pertinent  questions,  most  of  which 
yet  remain  unanswered.  Among  these  queries  are  sev- 
eral which  bar  a  solution  of  the  problem:  i,  Whence 
and  in  what  form  did  Nature  draw  the  supply  of  car- 
bon? 2.  How  did  she  crystallize  it?  3.  Is  the  kimber- 
lite  of  Africa  the  material  in  which  the  carbon  was 
crystallized  and  is  that  material  necessary  to  its  crystal- 
lization ?  Following  these  comes  the  question,  "  How 
were  these  vertical  shafts  or  wells  of  Africa  formed  and 
filled  with  the  diamondiferous  earth?  Before  consider- 
ing these  questions  let  us  review  the  conditions  and  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  occurrence  of  diamonds, 


374  THE  DIAMOND 

In  India,  diamonds  are  found  on  a  plateau  four  to  six 
or  seven  hundred  feet  high,  in  thin  alluvial  deposits  at  or 
near  the  surface  of  the  earth.  There  are  two  distinct 
deposits,  forming  strata  in  the  Upper  Vindyan  series  of 
the  north,  and  in  the  Lower  Vindyan  section  (Silurian) 
of  the  south. 

It  is  also  believed  that  diamonds  exist  in  the  older 
Paleozoic  rocks  in  the  Himalayas,  and  it  is  thought  that 
the  diamonds  of  the  Mahanadi  river  have  been  washed 
down  by  the  headwaters  higher  up.  The  diamonds  are 
always  accompanied  by  pebbles  of  a  siliceous  and  fer- 
ruginous nature,  and  a  variety  of  others,  among  them 
occasionally,  corundum.  The  deposits  in  which  they 
occur  are  so  altered  from  their  original  form  that  they 
afford  no  clue  as  to  the  exact  nature  of  the  matrix  in 
which  the  diamond  was  crystallized.  That  the  matrix 
was  formed  long  ages  ago,  then  disintegrated  and  scat- 
tered over  the  earth,  is  about  all  we  know  of  the  origin 
of  the  diamond  which  was  released  from  its  bonds  and 
strewn  over  the  earth,  in  India  during  the  ages  succeed- 
ing. 

In  Brazil  the  sources  of  the  diamond  are  extensive 
elevated  plateaus  the  faces  of  which  are  broken  up  into 
abrupt,  rugged  hills  and  gorges,  from  whence  the  dia- 
monds with  their  decomposed  matrix  have  been  carried 
from  level  to  level,  as  the  mountain  torrents  wore  their 
channels,  through  the  ages,  many  being  carried  by  the 
rivers  having  their  headwaters  in  the  mountains,  down 
to  the  plains  below.  Wherever  diamonds  are  found 
they  have  come  evidently  from  high  places,  but  in  Africa 
only  have  they  been  discovered  in  their  elevation,  un- 
scattered  by  the  waters. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          375 

The  diamond  chimneys  of  Africa  are  huge  dykes  or 
chasms,  penetrating  vertically  the  strata  of  the  country 
known  as  the  Karoo  formation,  to  unknown  depths,  and 
filled  evidently  from  below  with  a  material  quite  unlike 
any  of  the  strata  which  wall  the  pipes.  These  walls  are 
the  edges  of  the  horizontal  layers  which  form  the  crust 
of  the  earth  in  that  section.  In  the  Kimberley  district, 
under  a  varying  surface  deposit  of  several  feet  of  red 
clay  and  an  underlying  bed  of  calcareous  tufa  5  to  20 
feet  thick,  which  covers  the  pipes  and  the  surrounding 
strata  alike,  the  layers  consist  of  about  50  feet  of  pale 
shales  of  a  grayish  color,  under  which  is  about  275  feet 
of  black  bituminous  shales.  Beneath  this  are  several 
hundred  feet  of  melaphyr,  about  the  same  thickness  as 
the  black  shale,  and  under  that,  is  quartzite  and  olivine- 
rock.  There  are  slight  variations  from  this  order 
owing  to  faults  and  intrusions,  as  for  instance  in  the 
strata  about  the  Dutoitspan  mine,  in  which  case  there 
is  a  layer  of  quartzite  above  the  melaphyr  and  63  feet 
of  diorite  between  them,  but  shale,  melaphyr,  quartzite, 
and  granite  or  gneiss,  is  the  usual  arrangement  of  the 
Karoo  formation. 

The  contents  of  these  chimneys  are  in  all  cases  similar. 
There  are  some  small  variations  of  little  importance,  but 
the  general  character  of  the  contents  of  all  the  chimneys 
is  the  same,  and  in  each  chimney,  except  for  an  altera- 
tion of  color  and  consistency  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
material  filling  it,  due  to  weathering,  the  contents  are 
precisely  the  same  as  far  as  they  have  been  followed 
down.  The  "  blue  ground,"  as  the  diamondiferous  ma- 
terial is  called,  at  the  2,500  foot  levels,  is  the  same  as 
that  1,000  feet  down,  and  both  are  the  same  as  the  yel- 


376  THE  DIAMOND 

low  ground  which  was  found  near  the  surface,  except 
that  exposure  to  the  weather  there  had  oxidized  and 
turned  it  to  a  yellow  color,  instead  of  the  greenish-blue 
it  is  below. 

In  most  cases,  the  upper  part  of  the  contents  of  these 
chimneys  formed  small  rounded  hills  or  kopjes,  ten  or 
more  feet  above  the  surrounding  level.  The  filling  of 
the  Wesselton  only  showed  a  depression.  The  dia- 
mondiferous  material  of  the  chimneys  is  quite  unlike 
the  surrounding  reef.  Without  affecting  the  surround- 
ing strata  in  any  way,  it  usually  fills  the  dykes  to  the 
walls,  though  there  are  intervals,  in  places,  between  the 
walls  and  the  contents,  and  in  these  hollows  are  numer- 
ous calcite  crystals.  Nor  do  the  walls  show  any  signs  of 
abrasion  or  heat,  though  the  edges  of  the  shales  were 
bent  upward  slightly,  as  if  by  pressure  from  below. 

The  diamondiferous  rock  is  a  greenish-blue  mineral, 
like  dried  mud  with  numerous  inclusions.  It  carries 
many  fragments  of  the  surrounding  reef,  pieces  of  the 
shales  being  very  noticeable.  These  foreign  inclusions 
vary  in  size  from  very  small  pieces  to  one  so  large  that 
it  is  called  "  the  island."  This  is  a  block  of  olivine- 
basalt  in  the  De  Beers  mine,  having  an  area  of  nearly 
3,000  square  feet  and  penetrating  to  a  great  depth. 
Some  inclusions  must  have  been  brought  up  from  great 
depths,  as  they  differ  from  any  of  the  strata  which  com- 
pose the  reef.  Large  blocks  of  gray  sandstone,  found 
at  a  depth  of  250  feet,  resemble  the  sandstone  which 
in  other  localities  forms  part  of  the  middle  Karoo  forma- 
tion, and  may  be  here  an  underlying  stratum  at  great 
depth.  These  foreign  inclusions,  differing  entirely  in 
nature  from  the  diamondiferous  material  with  which 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          377 

they  are  mixed,  are  called  "floating  reef"  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  walls  of  the  funnels  which  are 
termed  simply  "  reef."  The  inclusions  which  differ 
from  the  reef  are  called  "exotic  fragments." 

The  bowlders  of  floating  reef,  though  occasionally 
rounded,  usually  have  sharp  corners  and  edges,  show- 
ing no  signs  of  attrition.  They  were  more  abundant  in 
the  upper  levels  of  the  pipes,  but  are  found  in  irregular 
quantities  at  all  depths.  In  places,  the  carbonaceous 
shales  were  met  in  such  quantities  that  fire-damp,  simi- 
lar to  the  dangerous  gases  of  the  coal  mines,  was  en- 
countered. 

The  diamondi  ferous  material  filling  the  pipes  has  been 
variously  termed  "  serpentine  breccia,"  "  volcanic  tuff 
or  agglomerate  "  and  later,  the  name  "  kimberlite  "  was 
given  to  it  by  Prof.  Henry  Carvill  Lewis,  and  as  that  is 
most  generally  used,  reference  to  it  will  be  made  under 
that  name.  The  kimberlite  itself  though  comparatively 
soft,  is  harder  in  some  places  than  in  others.  It  takes 
twice  as  long  to  weather  the  De  Beers  kimberlite  as  it 
does  that  from  the  Kimberley,  and  much  of  the  Premier 
kimberlite  needs  no  weathering,  but  goes  direct  from 
the  mine  to  the  washers.  It  is  somewhat  soapy  to  the 
touch  and  it  can  be  scratched  with  the  finger-nail,  but 
it  has  a  quality  which  makes  it  difficult  to  work  with 
the  pick.  It  separates  easily  under  an  edge  tool,  how- 
ever. The  various  analyses  made,  agree  in  the  main, 
the  differences  being  unimportant.  One  from  the  Kim- 
berley mine  by  Prof.  Maskelyne  and  Dr.  Flight  gave : 

Silica    (SOJ    39-732 

Alumina    (A2O3)    2.309 

Ferrous  Oxide  (FeO) 9.690 


378  THE  DIAMOND 

Magnesia  (MgO)   24.419 

Lime  (CaO)   10.162 

Carbon  dioxide  (CO2)   6.556 


100.415 

Two  of  kimberlite  from  Africa  by  Prof.  H.  Carvill 
Lewis  of  which  I  was  the  least  decomposed  rock  with 
few  shale  enclosures  and  II,  the  more  decomposed 
rock  with  many  shale  enclosures  (diamondiferous),  are 
as  follows : 

I  II 

Silica,  SO2  (with  some  Ti02) 33«oo  34-&> 

Ferrous  Oxide,  FeO  (including  A12O3) 12.00  14.40 

Magnesia,  MgO   32.38  30.76 

Lime,  CaO   9.60  2.70 

Sodium  monoxide,  Na2O   0.67  1.40 

Carbon  dioxide,  CO2  7-O5  5-55 

Water,  H,O   (Carbonaceous  matter) 6.00  10.60 


100.70         100.21 

There  are  no  horizontal  layers  in  the  kimberlite  nor 
are  there  any  beds  of  foreign  rock  in  it,  the  floating 
reef  being  distributed  throughout  very  irregularly,  but 
there  are  very  small  vertical  crevices  in  the  kimberlite, 
filled  with  a  foreign  mineral  resembling  talc,  which 
divide  the  kimberlite  into  vertical  columns.  These 
columns  differ  slightly  from  each  other  in  color,  com- 
position and  contained  minerals,  though  each  is  the 
same  in  character  throughout,  and  all  are  in  general 
alike.  The  most  important  difference  is  that  some  of 
these  columns  are  much  richer  in  diamonds  than  others. 
The  western  end  of  both  the  Kimberley  and  De  Beers 
mines  were  very  poor,  the  richest  part  of  the  latter 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          379 

being  in  the  center.     Fifteen  of  these  kimberlite  columns 
have  been  observed  in  the  Kimberley  mine. 

From  the  nature  of  the  kimberlite,  and  the  condition 
of  the  reef  surrounding,  it  is  evident  that  the  dykes 
were  not  made  by  a  volcanic  eruption  which  forced  the 
kimberlite  through  opposing  strata  of  the  earth's  crust, 
but  either  existed  prior  to  the  filling,  as  open  chasms, 
or  the  earth's  crust  was  rent  apart  and  the  cavity  si- 
multaneously filled.  A  local  volcanic  upheaval  of  suffi- 
cient force  to  break  a  large  funnel  through  thousands 
of  feet  of  the  earth's  strata,  would  not  stop  placidly 
when  it  reached  the  surface,  but  would  have  scattered 
evidence  of  its  eruption  far  and  wide.  No  such  evi- 
dence exists  around  the  diamond  chimneys.  Nothing 
has  been  discovered  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mines, 
suggestive  of  kimberlite.  The  Karoo  strata  are  over- 
laid in  places  by  basalt,  and  everywhere  by  the  red 
clay  and  calcareous  tufa,  neither  of  which  could  be 
altered  kimberlite,  and  in  these  deposits  are  no  diamonds 
nor  the  minerals  which  accompany  the  diamond. 

Having  these  facts  in  mind,  it  appears  possible  that 
in  some  past  age  there  was  a  tremendous  derangement 
of  the  earth's  crust  extending  from  the  Bokkeveldt 
mountains  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  far  to  the  north, 
so  extensive  in  area,  and  by  a  force  so  evenly  dis- 
tributed, that  the  strata  of  the  plateau  within  the 
boundary  walls  maintained  their  natural  horizontal  trend 
in  general,  and  which  by  the  spreading  of  its  surface, 
rent  it  in  places  and  occasioned  the  huge  funnel-like 
chasms  now  known  as  the  diamond  chimneys. 

It  is  noticeable  that  all  diamond  fields  of  importance 
are  within  30°  north  and  south  of  the  equator.  They 


380  THE  DIAMOND 

are  situated,  therefore,  where  vegetation  is  or  has  been 
extremely  luxurious.  Some  of  these  sections  in  this 
age,  elevated  and  denuded  of  soil,  are  almost  barren, 
though  the  surface  of  the  Karoos  in  South  Africa,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  ferruginous  reddish  sands  and  clays 
which  bake  hard  in  time  of  drought,  rests  on  a  slaty 
rock  which  retains  the  rain  water  and  keeps  alive  the 
bulbous  and  other  alkali  plants  until  the  wet  season 
transforms  the  country,  with  tropical  rapidity,  to  oceans 
of  blossoms.  A  large  part  of  the  South  African  plateau 
lying  within  the  hills  of  the  west  coast,  the  Bokkeveldts 
in  the  South,  and  the  Drakenberg  mountains  which 
skirt  it  on  the  east  coast  and  turning  westward  form 
a  northern  interior  frontier  in  the  Transvaal  south  of 
the  Limpopo  river,  probably  held  at  one  time  lacustrine 
basins  interspersed  with  great  stretches  of  the  rankest 
vegetation,  which  deposited  during  the  ages  immense 
stores  of  carbonaceous  material.  If  by  any  means,  ver- 
tical fissures  were  opened  in  such  an  area  of  the  earth's 
surface,  there  would  be  a  great  in-pouring  of  this  material 
into  the  cavities,  sufficient  one  might  think  reasonably, 
to  supply  an  abundance  of  the  carbon  necessary  to  pro- 
duce the  very  small  proportion  diamonds  constitute  of 
the  mass  contained  in  the  diamond  chimneys. 

As  stated,  this  high  plateau  of  the  diamond-bearing 
part  of  South  Africa  appears  to  have  been  raised  to  its 
present  elevation,  from  whatever  cause  or  by  what- 
ever means,  either  by  one  uplift,  or  by  a  gradual  exer- 
cise of  force  which  did  not  break  up  and  distort  the 
trend  of  the  strata.  In  Brazil  and  elsewhere,  the  strata 
in  which  the  diamondiferous  deposits  occur  are  broken 
and  often  folded.  In  many  places  they  are  raised  to  a 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          381 

sharp  angle,  and  occasionally  set  up  vertically,  but  in 
South  Africa  the  strata  lie  in  their  natural  horizontal 
position,  undisturbed  apparently  except  for  these  ver- 
tical dykes  which  make  a  clean  boring  through  the  even, 
natural  formation.  Igneous  intrusions  exist  in  places 
among  the  strata,  and  a  stratum  of  basalt  caps  the  shale 
about  some  of  the  mines,  but  they  are  quite  independent 
of  the  diamondiferous  contents  of  the  chimneys,  and 
do  not  appear  to  have  had  any  influence  upon  the  kimber- 
lite,  or  to  have  been  acted  upon  by  it. 

It  is  evident  that  these  chimneys  are  not  the  vents  of 
sudden,  local,  igneous,  volcanic,  eruption.  Not  only  is 
the  crater  formation  absent,  but  there  has  been  no  over- 
flow nor  scattering  of  ashes  or  lava  about  the  mouth  of 
any  one  of  them.  The  contents  have  apparently  been 
raised  to,  or  a  little  above,  the  surface  of  the  surrounding 
land  by  a  series  of  uplifts,  or  forced  upward  by  the  sub- 
sidence of  the  entire  plateau.  Nor  do  the  edges  of  the 
surrounding  strata  forming  the  walls  of  the  chimneys, 
show  any  sign  of  igneous  action.  The  face  of  the 
quartzite  stratum  is  even  and  unaltered;  the  highly  in- 
flammable black  shale,  though  bent  upwards  at  the  edges 
as  if  by  pressure  from  below  and  the  expansion  of  the 
contents  of  the  chimney,  carry  no  signs  of  firing,  and 
the  horizontal  trend  of  the  strata  is  undisturbed.  The 
composition  of  the  kimberlite  breccia  also  suggests  the 
idea  that  it  was  not  solidified  from  a  molten  condition. 
It  contains  large  quantities  of  the  black  shale,  and  the 
diamonds  are  said  to  be  most  plentiful  where  the  shale 
inclusions  are  most  abundant. 

Nevertheless,  Henry  Carvill  Lewis,  in  "  The  Matrix 
of  the  Diamond,"  edited  by  Prof.  T.  G.  Bonney,  says: 


382  THE  DIAMOND 

"  That  the  rock  was  a  true  igneous  lava,  and  not  a 
mud  or  ash,  is  indicated  by  the  following  facts: 

1.  The  minerals  and  their  associations  are  those  char- 
acteristic of  eruptive  ultra-basic  rocks. 

2.  The  porphyritic  crystals  are  idiomorphic  as   in  vol- 
canic rocks. 

3.  The  corrosion  cavities  in  the  porphyritic  crystals  are 
due  to  solution  by  the  hot  magma. 

4.  The  character  of  the  bronzite  and  diopside  is  similar 
to  that  in  meteorites  and  eruptive  rocks,  but  not  in  meta- 
morphic  or  plutonic  rocks. 

5.  The  occurrence  of  a  ground-mass  and  of  traces  of 
glass. 

6.  The    traces    of    a    second    generation    of    minerals 
(pyroxene?)   in  the  ground-mass. 

7.  The  occurrence  of  fragmentary  enclosures  of  the  ad- 
joining rock  and  of  deep-seated  rocks,  and  the  evidence  of 
alteration  by  heat  which  these  enclosures  exhibit. 

8.  The  traces  of  a  fluidal  structure  shown  on  polished 
specimens. 

9.  The  identity  of  the  rock  with  one  in  Kentucky,  which 
is  a  true  eruptive  dyke,  and  with  others  in  the  Vaal  river, 
which  also  form  dykes. 

Undoubtedly  the  filling  of  these  vertical  dykes  came 
from  below.  It  is  therefore  an  eruptive  rock.  It  also 
appears  from  exhaustive  examinations  of  its  composi- 
tion by  Professor  Lewis  and  others,  that  a  part  of  the 
material  at  least  has  resulted  from  a  molten  condition. 
It  does  not  appear  possible,  however,  that  some  of  the  in- 
clusions could  have  entered  it  while  in  that  state,  and 
in  appearance  it  bears  no  resemblance  now  to  the  lava 
of  volcanoes;  its  constituency  suggests  a  dried  and  hard- 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          383 

ened  mud.  It  has  been  said  that  the  sharp  edges  of  the 
diamond  crystals  found  in  the  kimberlite  would  be  im- 
possible had  they  been  formed  in  a  molten  mass,  but 
as  Moissan  produced  such  diamond  crystals,  though 
small,  from  charcoal  confined  in  fused  iron,  and  diamond 
will  not  burn  without  a  free  supply  of  oxygen,  the 
argument  appears  invalid. 

Geologists  assert  that  the  center  of  the  earth  is  solid, 
but  that  between  the  crust  and  that  solid  center,  lies  a 
mass  of  molten  material.  They  also  claim  to  have  in- 
dubitable evidence  that  the  earth's  bulk  is  gradually 
shrinking,  while  at  the  same  time  by  astronomical  forces 
it  assumes  a  somewhat  elliptical  form  at  the  equator. 
In  the  process  of  shrinking,  the  uneven  thickness  and 
strength  of  the  crust  would  produce  uneven  results. 
Some  weaker  parts  of  the  area  would  settle  low-er, 
toward  the  center  of  gravity,  leaving  other  stronger 
parts  elevated  above  the  general  level,  and  they  would 
become,  thereby,  mountain  ranges  where  the  buckling 
occurred,  and  high  plateaus,  if  the  area  was  large,  within 
the  mountainous  border  lines  of  greatest  strain,  marking 
the  junction  of  the  weaker  sinking  portions  of  the  crust 
and  the  thicker  and  more  stable  part. 

It  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  some  such  oc- 
currence took  place  during  past  ages  in  South  Africa, 
whereby  the  earth's  crust  seaward,  east,  west,  and  south 
from  the  mountains  surrounding  the  diamond  plateau, 
sank,  leaving  the  plateau  at  an  elevation,  with  undis- 
turbed horizontal  strata,  except  for  occasional  vertical 
rents  in  it  extending  probably  to  the  underlying  magma. 
This  hypothesis  seems  more  probable  than  that  of  a 
deep  explosive  or  expansive  force  sufficiently  extensive 


384  THE  DIAMOND 

and  simultaneous  in  its  action  to  lift  such  a  tremendous 
area  with  little  or  no  derangement  of  the  strata  within 
its  mountainous  borders.  It  would  also  account  for  the 
absence  of  eruptions  of  a  volcanic  nature,  and  the  steady 
pressure  of  the  crust  upon  a  molten  interior,  would  ex- 
plain the  intrusion  of  igneous  material,  in  places  between 
the  regular  order  of  the  strata,  where  the  strain  of  re- 
arrangement had  left  interstices. 

There  is  always  a  period  of  strain  before  things  as 
they  are,  break  to  a  rearrangement.  There  must  be  a 
climax  of  power  to  produce  results.  The  storm  gathers 
before  it  bursts  into  thunder.  For  some  time,  when  a 
volcano  is  in  action,  the  internal  pressure  of  gases  must 
gather  force  before  it  is  sufficient  to  burst  asunder  the 
old  walls  and  cap  of  lava  which  held  them  pent  up  within. 
Then  force  with  gathered  impetus  bursts  forth  and  runs 
riot,  and  finding  all  the  weaker  spots  in  its  path,  vents 
itself  there.  It  was  probably  so  in  the  sinking  of  the 
earth's  crust  around  the  diamond  plateau.  When  the 
earth,  seaward  of  what  are  now  the  mountains,  sank,  and 
the  earth's  crust  buckling  made  the  mountains,  the 
plateau,  with  rumble  and  roar,  cracked  in  places  to  its 
foundations,  and  here  and  there  over  its  wide  face,  the 
diamond  chimneys  were  opened  up. 

These  conditions  being  obtained  by  the  pressure  of 
gravity  or  weight  from  without  the  earth  toward  the 
center,  effectual  only  over  an  area  outside  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  plateau,  the  opening  of  these  funnels  to  the 
interior  would  not  necessarily  produce  violent  eruptions 
of  the  molten  material  underlying,  even  if  they  pene- 
trated the  crust  to  it.  Such  eruptions  arise  from  chem- 
ical reactions  which  change  existing  combinations  into 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          385 

others  requiring  more  space,  as  heat  transforms  water 
into  steam.  These  being  absent,  the  molten  material 
would  simply  ooze  into  the  funnels,  and  rise  with  the 
settling  pressure  of  the  crust  of  the  plateau. 

Another  important  factor  would  be  introduced  by  the 
rending  of  the  earth's  crust.  Immense  quantities  of 
surface  material,  including  probably  great  volumes  of 
water,  would  pour  in,  dislodging  and  carrying  with  it 
fragments  of  the  earth's  strata,  from  the  surface  down, 
which  had  been  broken  or  loosened  when  the  break  oc- 
curred. At  first  this  material  would  be  assimilated  on 
reaching  the  interior  heat,  but  gases  would  be  generated, 
steam  evolved  and  a  great  cauldron  of  magma  permeated 
with  superheated  steam,  established.  Huge  bubbles 
would  lift  this  mass  in  columns  toward  the  surface; 
explosions  would  rend  and  dislodge  protrusions  of  the 
reef  about  the  walls  of  the  chimney,  and  break  up  deep 
lying  strata  into  fragments  which  would  also  be  mixed 
and  lifted  with  the  mass.  Probably  very  deep  connec- 
tions with  similar  funnels  in  the  neighborhood  would  be 
established. 

As  the  upper  mass  cooled,  the  fragments  of  the  sur- 
rounding strata  carried  or  falling  into  the  cauldron  would, 
in  the  inclusion,  hold  their  original  form  and  be  recog- 
nized later,  as  the  inclusions  of  the  kimberlite  are  to- 
day. 

Upon  the  character  of  this  surface  supply  of  material, 
the  presence  of  diamonds  in  the  agglomerate  probably 
depends.  There  has  been  and  is  a  general  supposition 
that  diamonds  are  always  associated  with  kimberlite,  but 
that  the  latter  does  not  necessarily  contain  diamonds  is 
demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  it  occurs  in  various  places, 
25 


386  THE  DIAMOND 

notably  New  York  State  and  Kentucky,  without  any, 
and  in  Arkansas  though  some  diamonds  have  been  found 
in  a  large  body  of  it  there,  it  is  doubtful  if  that  contains 
any  considerable  quantity.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that 
if  the  elements  contained  in  kimberlite,  under  certain 
conditions,  are  requisite  for  the  crystallization  of  car- 
bon, the  presence  of  carbon  and  its  crystallization  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  peculiar  formation  of  kimberlite. 
The  South  African  chimneys  are  also  traversed  by  dykes 
of  kimberlite  which  contain  few  if  any  diamonds.  It 
is  the  breccia,  or  more  decomposed  kimberlite  containing 
the  shale  enclosures,  which  is  diamondiferous.  This 
black  shale  in  the  stratum  surrounding  the  chimneys  is 
combustible,  but  the  fragments  in  the  breccia  have  lost 
their  sulphur  and  carbonaceous  matter.  Few  diamonds 
are  found  in  purely  igneous  or  metamorghic  rocks, 
though  Henry  Carvill  Lewis  referring  to  kimberlite 
says,  "  Certain  resemblances  can  be  traced  to  the  ground- 
mass  of  sundry  decomposed  basaltic  or  other  basal 
rocks/'  Sir  H.  E.  Roscoe  found  on  treating  "  blue 
ground "  with  hot  water,  "  an  aromatic  hydrocarbon 
could  be  extracted,  and  by  digesting  it  with  ether  and 
allowing  the  solution  to  evaporate,  this  hydrocarbon  was 
separated  and  found  to  be  crystalline,  strongly  aromatic, 
volatile,  burning  with  a  smoky  flame  and  melting  at 
50°  C." 

These  facts  remind  one  again  of  the  probable  surface 
conditions  existing  at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the 
diamond  chimneys  through  the  earth's  crust.  It  is 
noticeable  too,  that  beyond  the  trace  of  hydrocarbon  in 
the  ground-mass,  and  the  carbon  in  the  calcite,  which 
is  a  decomposed  product,  all  the  carbon  which  entered 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND          387 

into  the  original  mass  and  remained,  appears  to  have 
been  segregated  as  diamond,  though  a  considerable 
amount  escaped  probably  as  carbon  dioxide. 

The  inference  that  the  supply  of  carbon  came  from 
the  surface  seems  justified  also  by  the  fact  that  the  yield 
of  diamonds  in  the  chimneys  was  greatest  in  the  upper 
levels.  It  is  true  that  the  surface  yield  of  some  of  them 
was  less  than  at  a  depth  of  several  hundred  feet,  and 
that  in  one  or  two  cases  where  the  yield  has  been  small 
from  the  beginning,  the  percentage  continues  very  even, 
but  generally  there  is  a  steady  decline  in  the  percentage 
of  yield  as  the  workings  are  carried  to  greater  depths. 

The  sinking  of  the  earth's  crust  outside  the  borders 
of  the  diamond  plateau  and  the  natural  gravitation  of 
the  plateau  itself,  would  establish  a  steady  pressure  upon 
the  underlying  molten  material  and  force  the  magma 
up  the  vertical  fissures  and  into  and  through  the  surface 
material  draining  into  them.  This  would  result  in  the 
heating  of  the  surface  supply,  the  cooling  of  the  magma, 
and  the  amalgamation  of  both.  The  pressure,  however, 
would  not  be  constant.  Occasional  slips  in  the  readjust- 
ment of  the  earth's  crust  would  suddenly  force  columns 
of  the  cooling  agglomerate  upward,  and  this  raising 
process  would  be  repeated  until  the  mass  had  become 
sufficiently  solidified  to  resist  the  pressure  from  below. 
In  this  manner  it  is  conceivable  that  the  dykes  could 
have  been  filled  as  we  find  them,  by  successive  upheavals 
of  separate  columns. 

Reviewing  facts  and  inferences  that  may  be  fairly 
drawn  from  them,  it  seems  probable  that  the  diamond 
plateau  of  South  Africa  was  left  at  an  elevation  by  the 
shrinkage  of  the  earth's  crust  surrounding  it. 


388  THE  DIAMOND 

Vertical  rents  in  the  plateau  were  made  in  the  process, 
into  which  a  magma  of  ultra-basic  rock  exuded  from 
the  interior,  and  a  mass  of  hydrocarbonated  material 
poured  from  the  surface,  forming  an  agglomerate  hav- 
ing the  characteristic  of  an  altered  eruptive  rock,  yet 
differing  from  any  other  lava  known. 

Owing  to  the  precipitation  of  carbonaceous  surface 
material  into  the  magma  confined  in  the  depths  of  the 
vertical  fissures,  processes  ensued  which  segregated  the 
carbon  in  the  mass  and  crystallized  it  as  diamond. 

The  cooling  and  cooled  mass  was  raised  in  the  chim- 
neys by  successive  uplifts,  occasioned  by  the  generation 
of  gases  within  the  mass  and  the  settlings  of  the  earth's 
crust. 

The  yield  of  diamond  will  decrease  as  the  rock  passes 
from  an  agglomerate  of  igneous  lava  and  surface  material, 
into  the  underlying  eruptive  rock  which  was  not  reached 
by  the  surface  admixture. 

Inasmuch  as  it  is  the  brecciated  kimberlite  only  which 
contains  the  diamonds,  and  the  breccia  though  some- 
what altered,  has  not  been  fully  amalgamated  with  the 
ground-mass,  the  kimberlite  was  not  in  a  state  of  igni- 
tion when  the  diamonds  were  crystallized. 

The  chemical  reactions  whereby  the  carbon  was  crys- 
tallized, remains  a  subject  for  speculation  and  the  ex- 
periments of  scientists,  but  it  appears  probable  that  it 
was  accomplished  in  the  African  diamond  chimneys  by 
the  passage  of  superheated  steam  through  an  agglomer- 
ate of  magma  while  being  cooled  by  carbonaceous 
material  and  water  poured  into  it  from  above.  That 
the  crystallization  of  carbon  as  diamond  does  not  de- 
pend absolutely  upon  the  geologic  structure,  during 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND         389 

crystallization,  of  the  matrix  in  which  it  occurs,  appears 
evident  from  the  fact  that  diamonds  have  been  found 
in  eclogite,  itacolumite  and  an  igneous  rock.  Profes- 
sor Bonney  found  ten  small  diamonds  embedded  in  a 
bowlder  of  eclogite  from  one  of  the  Newlands  pipes  in 
Griqualand  West.  It  is  reported  also  that  they  are 
found  occasionally  in  the  Roberts-Victor  mine  in  the 
same  matrix.  In  Brazil  though  usually  found  in  drift, 
they  occur  to  a  limited  extent  in  the  itacolumite,  thought 
to  be  the  original  matrix,  and  which  by  decomposition 
furnished  the  diamondiferous  quartz  pebble  drift. 
Some  geologists  think  that  the  Semri  sandstone  of  India 
was  the  matrix  there,  because  many  fragments  of  it 
are  found  with  the  diamonds  in  the  quartzose  conglomer- 
ate which  is  the  diamondiferous  material  of  some  parts 
of  India.  A  diamond  was  found  embedded  in  horn- 
blende diabase  at  Oakey  creek  near  Inverell,  Australia. 
The  sparse  occurrence  of  diamond  crystals  in  unal- 
tered igneous  rock,  and  their  abundance  in  the  kimber- 
lite  breccia,  suggests  that  crystallization  occurred  during 
the  metamorphosis  by  hydration  of  an  igneous  magma 
composed  of  favorable  reducing  chemical  constituents. 
That  the  crystallization  of  carbon  can  occur  under  in- 
tense heat  and  pressure  has  been  demonstrated  by  Pro- 
fessor Moissan,  but  that  the  heat  and  pressure  was  applied 
in  the  same  manner  in  the  diamond  chimneys  appears 
doubtful,  for  in  them,  the  quantity  of  diamonds  de- 
creases with  the  approach  of  the  diamondiferous 
material  to  the  source  of  heat,  and  the  associate  minerals 
are  chiefly  silica  and  magnesia.  A  natural  solvent  for 
carbon  with  sufficient  heat  to  cause  the  necessary  chem- 
ical reactions,  and  pressure,  is  probably  Nature's  method 
of  crystallizing  carbon. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  PLACE  OF  DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE 

'"TAHOUGH  with  the  appropriate  use  of  them,  there  is 
-*•  also  much  vulgar  display  of  diamonds,  and  an 
equally  vulgar  habit  of  decrying  them  as  vulgar  on  that 
account,  writers  and  poets  continue  to  refer  to  the  gem 
as  one  of  the  chief  accompaniments  of  wealth  and 
station,  and  as  an  illustration  of  the  cardinal  qualities 
of  humanity,  as  they  have  done  for  ages.  It  is  often 
employed  also  in  the  hyperbolical  description  of  the 
beauties  of  nature  and  of  the  human  eye,  though  some 
poets  have  found  it  inadequate  for  the  latter  purpose. 
Spencer  in  his  search  of  heaven  and  earth  for  some- 
thing with  which  to  compare  the  eyes  of  chaste  beauty, 
passes  the  diamond  thus,  "  Nor  to  the  diamond ;  for  they 
are  more  tender."  But  Moore,  when  he  sings  of 
charms  so  ensnaring  that  even  knowledge  of  the  charm- 
er's faithlessness  could  not  prevail  against  their  potency, 
enumerates  among  them: 

"  Those  eyes  of  hers,  that  floating,  shine 
Like  diamonds  in  some  eastern  river." 

Thomson  glorifies  the  gem  in  order  to  make  it  a  second 
to  the  eyes  of  beauty  thus : 

"  The  lively  diamond  drinks  thy  purest  rays, 
Collected  light,  compact ;  that  polished  bright, 

39° 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         391 

And  all  its  native  lustre  let  abroad, 

Dares,  as  it  sparkles  on  the  fair  one's  breast, 

With  vain  ambition  emulate  her  eyes." 

So  also  Emerson  disparages  its  brilliancy  in  compari- 
son with  the  human  eye ;  he  says : 

"  On  prince  or  bride  no  diamond  stone 
Half  so  gracious  ever  shone, 
As  the  light  of  enterprise 
Beaming  from  a  young  man's  eyes." 

In  "  Dualisms/'  Tennyson  speaks  of  one  of  the  chil- 
dren as : 

"  Summer's  tanling  diamond  eyed." 

There  is  a  somewhat  obscure  passage  in  "  The  Revolt 
of  Islam,"  where  Shelley,  describing  the  three  shapes 
sculptured  about  the  throne  of  Laone,  says  of  the  third : 

"  The  third  image  was  dressed 
In  white  wings  swift  as  clouds  in  winter  skies; 
Beneath  his  feet,  mongst  ghastliest  forms  repressed 
Lay  faith,  an  obscure  worm,  who  sought  to  rise, 
While  calmly  on  the  sun  he  turned  his  diamond  eyes." 

Perhaps  one  reason  for  the  fascination  which  the  gem 
possesses  for  most  people  is  that  in  its  play  of  light  one 
is  unconsciously  reminded  of  human  passions  as  they 
are  expressed  by  the  eye.  Imagination  does  not  fly  far 
to  see  in  its  scintillations,  the  hard  glare  of  hate,  the 
flash  of  scorn,  or  the  ardent  glances  which  Cupid  sends 
as  arrows  from  his  bow.  There  is  a  compelling  attrac- 
tion in  the  fitful  flashes  that  spring  from  its  polished 


392  THE  DIAMOND 

facets,  even  for  those  who  profess  to  despise  the  bold 
gem.  When  the  light-sparks  leap  from  diamond  clusters 
on  fair  hands  or  fairer  bosoms,  beauty  is  glorified,  and 
if  music  reigns,  slumbering  memories  are  roused  in  a 
glamour  of  romance,  for  the  houris  of  imagination  all 
wear  diamonds  and  their  eyes  are  like  them. 

Imitations  of  its  good  qualities  as  a  stone  are  used 
by  the  poets  to  illustrate  undesirable  ones  in  humanity. 
Bryant  describes  a  faithless  heart  as  a  "  False  diamond 
set  in  flint."  Tasso  ennobles  the  quality  of  hardness,  and 
likens  a  strong  heart  to  the  gem.  Godfrey's  choice 
troop,  sent  by  him  to  get  timber  from  the  enchanted 
forest,  return  empty-handed  and  in  terror  of  the  demons 
infesting  it.  After  reciting  the  horrors  encountered 
there,  they  say: 

"  The  heart  that  fearless  ventures  where  they  dwell, 
Must  be  diamond,  diamond  to  the  core." 

He  several  times  refers  to  the  hardness,  stability,  and 
strength  of  the  stone,  as  do  other  poets,  but  its  brittle- 
ness  seems  to  have  escaped  recognition,  for  the  figures 
wherein  he  refers  to  it,  demand  toughness  as  well  as 
hardness.  The  two  knights,  sent  to  rescue  Rinaldo  from 
the  Enchantress,  are  provided  by  the  hermit-wizard  with 
a  shield  of  diamond.  True,  the  chief  purpose  for  which 
it  was  given  appears  to  have  been  that  it  might  be  used 
finally  as  a  kind  of  magic  mirror.  As  a  shield  simply, 
it  was  of  doubtful  value,  for  a  few  sturdy  blows  rightly 
placed  would  have  reduced  it  to  splinters.  He  charges 
the  knights : 

"  Then  with  the  diamond  shield  which  I  provide, 
Step  forth,  and  so  present  it  for  a  space, 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE        393 

That  he  may  start  at  his  reflected  face, 
His  wanton  deeds  and  ornaments  survey." 

Another  recognition  by  the  same  poet,  of  the  hard- 
ness of  the  diamond,  in  which  he  overlooked  its  cleav- 
able  quality,  appears  in  the  description  of  Sweno's  valor 
in  assaulting  the  barbarians: 

lt  Not  the  plate  they  wore, 
Although  'twere  thrice  refined,  nor  cap  of  steel, 
Though  into  diamond  charmed  by  wizard  lore, 
Might  stand  the  strokes,  his  fire  and  fury  deal." 

Spenser,  in  "  An  Hymme  of  Heavenly  Beautie,"  de- 
scribes the  throne  of  heaven  as : 

"  More  firme  and  durable  than  steele  or  brasse, 
Or  the  hard  diamond,  which  them  both  doth  passe." 

It  is  noticeable  that  poets  do  not  vary  much  in  their 
figurative  use  of  a  thing.  Each  places  it  in  similar  con- 
nections throughout  his  poems.  One  illustrates  hard- 
ness in  some  form,  by  the  diamond,  another  brilliancy. 
With  it,  one  engraves  a  human  quality,  the  6ther  be- 
dews the  fields,  or  sprinkles  water.  Each,  when  it  re- 
curs to  him,  reproduces  his  former  simile  with  little 
variation.  Spenser  almost  always  employs  it  to 
heighten  the  splendor  of  some  building  to  which  he 
would  lift  imagination.  In  "  The  Visions  of  Bellay " 
he  says  of  the  temple : 

"  On  high  hill  top  I  saw  a  stately  frame, 

An  hundred  cubits  high  by  just  assize, 

With  hundreth  pillours  fronting  faire  the  same, 

All  wrought  with  Diamond  after  Dorick  wize;" 


394  THE  DIAMOND 

and  the  tomb  is  described  thus : 

"  Then  did  a  sharped  spyre  of  Diamond  bright, 
Ten  feete  each  way  in  square  appeare  to  mee." 

Shelley  did  the  same.  In  "  Alastor  "  he  sees  Nature's 
caves : 

"  their  starry  domes 
Of  diamond  and  of  gold  expand  above 
Numberless  and  immeasurable  halls." 

Similarly  the  temple  is  described  in  his  "  Revolt  of 
Islam  " : 

"  We  came  to  a  vast  hall  whose  glorious  roof 
Was  diamond,  which  had  drunk  the  lightning's  sheen 
In  darkness,  which  now  poured  it  through  the  woof 
Of  spell-inwoven  clouds  hung  there  to  screen 
Its  blinding  splendor." 

These  lines  betray  acquaintance  with  the  Oriental  be- 
lief that  the  penetration  of  the  earth  to  its  deep  places 
by  lightning,  was  the  origin  of  diamonds. 

Tom  Moore  apparently  had  a  better  knowledge  of 
jewels,  and  connected  them  with  a  wider  range  of  ideas 
than  perhaps  any  other  poet.  He  also  beautifies  his  con- 
ception of  a  fairy  palace  with  diamonds.  In  "  The 
Sylph's  Ball/'  the  gnome  takes  his  sylph  bride : 

"  to  his  mine  — 
A  palace  paved  with  diamonds  all  — " 

and  he  lays  the  image  of  Beauty's  queen : 

"  Upon  a  diamond  shrine." 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         395 

Reference  to  it  as  an  adornment  of  the  person  ex- 
cepted,  the  poets  employ  the  diamond  more  frequently 
to  heighten  their  description  of  water  and  light  than 
in  any  other  way.  Nor  could  it  well  be  otherwise,  for  as 
Bryant  says  in  "  Green  River :  " 

"  The  quivering  glimmer  of  sun  and  rill 

With  a  sudden  flash  on  the  eye  is  thrown, 

Like  the  ray  that  streams  from  the  diamond-stone." 

One  who  has  reveled  in  the  exquisite  fairy  dance  of 
light  and  water,  in  which  every  movement  of  each, 
twins  with  the  grace  and  beauty  of  the  other  to  the 
joyous  bewilderment  of  the  onlooker,  can  understand  the 
despair  of  the  poet  for  words  to  carry  the  impression, 
and  his  desperate  seizure  of  the  most  precious  and  beauti- 
ful thing  known,  to  aid  him. 

In  "  After  the  Tempest,"  Bryant  describes  the  land- 
scape when  Nature,  drenched,  the  clouds  and  wind- 
storm gone,  basks  once  more  in  the  hush  of  repose  under 
a  beaming  sun.  One  hears  in  the  lines,  the  momentary 
rustle  of  the  flying  bird,  and  feels  the  splash  of  liquid 
diamonds  as  they  fall  on  hand  and  cheek : 

"  The  raindrops  glistened  on  the  trees  around, 
Whose  shadows  on  the  tall  grasses  were  not  stirred, 
Save  when  a  shower  of  diamonds,  to  the  ground, 
Was  shaken  by  the  flight  of  startled  bird." 

The  same  poet  creates  about  the  gem  a  beautiful  and 
pleasing  fancy  in  "  A  Winter  Piece  "  : 

"  Oh !  you  might  deem  the  spot 
The  spacious  cavern  of  some  virgin  mine, 
Deep  in  the  womb  of  earth,  where  the  gems  grow, 


396  THE  DIAMOND 

And  diamonds  put  forth  radiant  rods  and  bud 
With  amethyst  and  topaz." 

Lowell,  "  Strewed  moss  and  grass  with  diamonds 
bright,"  and  one  of  Moore's  angels,  telling  in  his  story 
of  a  maiden  of  Earth,  says: 

"While  playfully  around  her  breaking 
The  waters  that  like  diamonds  shone, 
She  moved  in  light  of  her  own  making." 

Shelley  too,  saw : 

— "  Many  a  fountain,  rivulet  and  pond, 
As  clear  as  elemental  diamond." 

The  gem  has  place  in  a  pretty  conceit  of  Lowell's 
in  "  Beaver  Brook  " : 

"  The  miller  dreams  not  at  what  cost 
The  quivering  millstones  hum  and  whirl, 
Nor  how  for  every  turn  are  tost 
Armfuls  of  diamonds  and  of  pearls." 

It  is  a  recognition  of  the  precious  if  vagrant  beauties 
with  which  the  sun  delights  the  eye  wherever  waters 
are  broken,  or  snows  crust,  and  which,  because  they  are 
without  money  and  without  price,  are  therefore  dearer 
to  the  hearts  of  some  than  the  costly  gem  which  Nature 
has  endowed  with  the  same  glories  permanent  and  un- 
assailable. 

Schiller  puts  the  flashlights  of  frosted  snow  in  his 
descriptive  posy,  "  The  Lay  of  the  Mountain,"  where  he 
describes  the  everlasting  avalanche  as  a  queen: 

'*  And  wondrous  the  diamonds  that  blaze  in  the  crown 

That  encircles  her  temples  sublime." 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         397 

In  Tasso's  gorgeous  word  picture  of  scenes  discovered 
by  the  wizard  to  the  two  knights  in  search  of  Rinaldo, 
are  two  lines  which  embody  in  small  space  the  highest 
conception  of  precious,  gem-like  beauty: 

— "  flashed  the  diamond  white 
In  virgin  state,  on  sparkling  opals  piled." 

What  greater  magnificence  could  earth  afford  than  a 
mass  of  virgin  white  diamonds  radiating  light  from  an 
opalescent  bed  of  vivid,  changeful  color. 

In  his  lines  to  the  memory  of  Lord  Talbot,  Thomson, 
with  a  nice  understanding  of  the  gem,  illustrates  by  it 
the  perfection  of  a  great  soul  in  graceful  fashion  thus: 

"  How  from  the  diamond  single  out  each  ray, 
Where  all,  though  trembling  with  ten  thousand  hues, 
Effuse  one  dazzling,  undivided  light?  " 

The  changing  colors  which  the  diamond's  dispersive 
powers  scatter  from  the  white  light  rays  falling  upon  it, 
were  suggested  to  Moore  by  the  brilliant  plumage  of  a 
humming-bird,  and  he  unites  them  so  that  each  brings 
to  the  mind  a  realization  of  the  beauty  of  the  other: 

"  See  him  now,  while  diamond  hues 
Soft  his  neck  and  wings  suffuse." 

Mental  brilliancy  reminds  him  of  the  bright  hard  stone, 
and  by  the  well-known  qualities  of  the  gem,  he  makes 
a  clearer  impress  of  the  more  subtle  qualities  of  the 
mind,  in  this  way : 

"  While  Wit  a  diamond  brought, 
Which  cut  his  bright  way  through." 


398  THE  DIAMOND 

Sometimes  common  misunderstandings  of  trade  terms 
lead  writers  and  poets  into  error.  An  instance  occurs 
in  Emerson's  "  Destiny."  He  says : 

Whether  your  jewel  be  of  pure  water, 
A  rose  diamond  or  a  white." 

Many  suppose  that  the  term  "  rose  "  as  applied  to  the 
diamond,  indicates  the  color  of  the  stone.  Evidently 
the  poet  thought  so.  It  refers,  however,  to  the  cutting 
and  may  be  any  color.  Nor  is  the  "  water  "  of  a  dia- 
mond quite  definite.  As  a  trade  term  it  was  never  uni- 
versally used,  but  it  became  a  favorite  with  writers, 
probably  as  a  poetical  phrase  and  from  the  knowledge 
that  some  tested  the  purity  of  a  gem's  color  by  drop- 
ping it  in  water;  the  purer,  so  much  the  less  observable 
was  it.  If  quite  pure,  it  could  not  be  distinguished  from 
the  water  surrounding  it,  and  was  therefore  said  to  be 
of  pure  water.  The  term  is  now  nearly  obsolete. 

Who  has  not  watched  with  keen  enjoyment  the  light- 
ing up  of  misty  dewdrops  clinging  to  the  grass  blades 
of  the  meadow,  or  hanging  tremulous  upon  shrub  and 
bush,  when  the  sun  climbs  over  the  eastern  hilltop  and 
fills  the  valley  with  cool  sparks  of  purity? 

Moore  has  indelibly  fixed  such  a  scene  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  maid  in  "  Reuben  and  Rose  " : 

"  Rose,  who  was  bright  as  the  spirit  of  dawn, 
When  with  wand  dropping  diamonds  and  silvery  feet, 
It  walks  o'er  the  flowers  of  mountain  and  lawn." 

All  the  varied  forms  of  play  in  which  water  is  seen 
under  the  sun  have  sometime  reminded  a  poet  of  the 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         399 

diamond,  and  the  gem  has  been. linked  with  it  in  prose 

and  poetry. 

Tennyson  saw  it  in  the  fountain: 

"  Till  the  fountain  spouted,  showering  wide 
Sleet  of  diamond  drift  and  pearly  hail ;  " 

and  in  his  "  Recollections  of  the  Arabian  Knights/'  he 
says: 

"  From  the  green  rivage  many  a  fall 
Of  diamond  rillets  musical." 

In  "  Maud,"  the  great  English  poet,  speculating  over 
the  humble  life  which  had  inhabited  a  little  shell  on  the 
sea-shore,  places  the  bright  stone  in  a  cluster  of  beauti- 
ful imagery: 

"  The  tiny  shell  is  forlorn, 
Void  of  the  little  living  will 
That  made  it  stir  on  the  shore. 
Did  he  stand  at  the  diamond  door 
Of  his  house  in  a  rainbow  frill? 
Did  he  push,   when   he  was   uncurled, 
A  golden  foot  or  a  fairy  horn 
Thro'  his  dim  water-world  ?  " 

Blazing  magnificence  is  pictured  in  another  line  by 
the  same  poet: 

"  In  diamond  light  upspring  the  dazzling  peaks." 

The  spell  of  which  the  spirits  sing  to  the  Oceanides 
in  "  Prometheus  Unbound/'  is  likened  by  Shelley  to  the 
diamond : 


400  THE  DIAMOND 

"  Like  a  diamond  which  shines 
On  the  dark  wealth  of  mines, 
A  spell  is  treasured  but  for  thee  alone. 
Down,  down !  " 

Moore  illustrates  the  wisdom  of  pleasure  in  a  line 
thus :  "  The  diamond  sleeps  within  the  mine."  And  of 
the  complaint  of  grief  an  old  writer  says : 

"  Such  were  the  accents  as  might  wound, 
And  teare  a  diamond  rock  in  twaine." 

Generally  diamonds  are  thought  to  be  more  appro- 
priate to  age  than  youth;  a  more  fitting  adornment  for 
the  matron  than  the  maid,  but  some  of  the  poets  appear 
to  think  otherwise;  among  these,  Moore,  who  in  his 
"Loves  of  the  Angels"  says: 

"  Then  first  were  diamonds  from  the  night 
Of  earth's  dark  centre  brought  to  light 
And  made  to  grace  the  conquering  way 
Of  proud  young  beauty  with  their  ray." 

To  the  wooer  of  a  daughter  of  the  Muse,  Emerson 
gives  this  warning  in  his  "  Woodnotes  " : 

"  But  if  with  gold  she  bind  her  hair, 
And  deck  her  breast  with  diamond, 
Take  off  thine  eyes,  thy  heart  forbear." 

Though  the  idea  is  metaphorical,  it  expresses  also  a  feel- 
ing very  general  among  the  people  of  the  Occident,  that 
the  self-assertive  gem  is  out  of  place  upon  the  person 
of  youth,  though  a  glorious  and  fitting  crown  for  more 
mature  beauty. 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE        401 

Reference  to  the  diamond  as  a  jewel  is  common  among 
writers  of  prose,  to  give  splendor  to  a  scene,  or  im- 
portance to  a  personage,  but  poets  seldom  use  it  so. 
Usually  they  dilate  not  upon  the  adornments  of  the 
person,  but  upon  the  charms  and  beauties  of  the  person 
itself.  Occasionally,  however,  in  describing  a  scene  of 
regal  magnificence,  especially  if  it  is  laid  in  the  Orient, 
the  jewels  worn  by  some  of  the  characters  are  men- 
tioned, to  emphasize  their  wealth  and  power.  For  in- 
stance, Tasso,  describing  the  great  Egyptian  King  Califfe 
at  the  gathering  of  his  forces,  says  of  him: 

"  Diamond  and  rubies  grace  his  robes." 

Two  lines  by  Shelley  in  "  Ginevra  "  convey  an  impres- 
sion of  stateliness; 

"  And,  as  she  passed,  the  diamonds  in  her  hair 
Were  mirrored  in  the  polished  marble  stair." 

Poets  usually  put  diamonds  in  the  robes  of  their 
heroes  and  in  the  hair  of  the  heroines.  Even  Moore  fol- 
lows the  poetic  custom,  for,  in  telling  the  story  of  Mary 
after  she  anointed  the  Savior's  feet,  he  says : 

"And  wiped  them  with  that  golden  hair 
Where  once  the  diamonds  shone." 

But  few  references  are  made  to  the  stone  in  the  Bible. 
It  is  mentioned  in  Exodus  as  one  of  the  stones  set  in 
the  High  Priest's  breastplate.  Jeremiah  speaks  of  it  as 
a  graver,  and  Ezekiel  includes  it  among  the  precious 
stones  worn  by  the  Prince  of  Tyrus  in  his  glory.  Men- 
tion is  not  made  of  it  by  the  Greeks  until  about  300 
26 


402  THE  DIAMOND 

B.  C,  though  Hindu  legends  disclose  a  knowledge  of  it 
centuries  earlier.  Pliny  gathered  what  was  known  and 
surmised  about  the  stone  in  his  time,  and  recorded  what 
to-day  reads  like  a  cluster  of  nonsense,  though  his  ex- 
ample is  emulated  by  instructors  in  the  press  of  the 
twentieth  century. 

Probably  no  one  thing  has  attracted  more  indiscrim- 
inate writing  than  the  diamond.  Since  the  qualities 
which  make  it  precious  became  known,  writers  have  used 
it  to  "  adorn  a  tale  "  almost  as  frequently  as  fair  dames 
use  it  to  multiply  their  charms  and  oftentimes  quite  as 
grotesquely.  In  the  early  days,  before  its  full  brilliancy 
was  developed  by  cutting,  when  the  natural  octahedron, 
or  stones  with  a  natural  bright  surface  only,  could  be 
used  as  jewels,  its  "  unspeakable  hardness "  was  the 
principal  theme  upon  which  writers  rung  the  changes, 
and  about  which  they  let  imagination  loose.  Pliny  as- 
serted that  not  only  was  it  so  hard  that  it  successfully 
resisted  when  struck  by  an  iron  hammer,  but  that  the 
hammer  and  anvil  were  torn  asunder  by  it.  To  fire, 
it  was  invincible  and  there  was  but  one  way  to  subdue 
and  break  it  down  and  that,  by  first  dipping  it  in  fresh, 
warm,  goat's  blood.  Poets  of  the  first  century,  Juvenal 
particularly,  allude  to  it,  but  not  until  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  art  of  cutting  and  polish- 
ing it  was  discovered,  did  it  attract  writers  as  generally 
as  other  precious  stones,  better  known,  and  more  popular 
because  of  their  color  and  greater  brilliancy  either  in 
the  natural  state,  or  by  processes  to  which  the  diamond 
would  not  respond. 

When,  however,  the  brilliant  possibilities  of  the  dia- 
ynond  were  developed,  ancj  it  became  the  desire  of  kings 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         403 

and  nobles,  then  the  glories  of  the  great  were  glorified 
by  telling  of  the  diamonds  they  wore,  and  the  glory  of 
the  diamond  was  glorified  by  the  fables  and  supersti- 
tions of  Pliny  and  those  who  followed  him.  Fable, 
magic  and  superstitions,  enlarged  by  reiteration,  crept 
into  print,  and  were  established  for  generations  and  cen- 
turies. The  searching  light  of  the  first  decade  of  the 
twentieth  century  has  not  yet  quite  dissipated  them, 
though  goat's  blood  and  the  hammer  and  anvil  test  have 
been  abolished. 

Fables  about  the  origin  of  the  diamond  are  not  many. 
In  India  it  was  said  that  lightning  penetrating  the  earth 
generated  them;  it  is  also  believed  there  that  they  con- 
tinue to  grow  and  may  be  later  found  in  ground  which 
has  been  already  worked  over.  This  idea  of  slow 
growth  by  accretion  has  appeared  in  print  quite  lately 
and  comes  from  high  authority.  Pliny  wrote  that  it  was 
engendered  in  fine  gold. 

From  the  first  to  the  fifteenth  century  little  was  writ- 
ten of  the  diamond  but  fable,  and  that  a  development 
of  Pliny  with  nonsensical  outcroppings  of  belief  in  its 
magic  influences.  The  principal  writers  were  Isidorus, 
Bishop  of  Seville  in  the  seventh  century;  Marbodus, 
Bishop  of  Rennes,  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  Moham- 
mond  Ben  Mansur  in  the  twelfth. 

During  this  period,  the  imaginations  of  ignorance  and 
folly,  fostered  by  those  who  profited  by  them,  crystal- 
lized into  various  forms  of  superstition.  Following  the 
idea  of  stones  in  the  Jewish  High  Priest's  breastplate 
representing  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  the  Romish 
Church  was  awarded  twelve  Apostle  Stones.  The  dia- 
mond not  being  amenable  to  the  uses  of  Apostle  Stones, 


404  THE  DIAMOND 

was  not  included  in  the  list,  but  it  was  given  a  place  in 
the  more  generally  applicable  lists  of  birthstones,  of 
which  several  came  into  existence,  the  more  widely  ac- 
cepted being  what  are  known  now  as  the  Polish  and 
the  Jewish.  These  in  turn  have  been  welded  of  late  for 
business  reasons  into  one,  and  a  new  modern  list  formed, 
in  which  the  cheaper  stones  are  discarded  or  combined 
with  others  more  expensive  and  ancient  authority  is 
made  to  countenance  the  more  precious  varieties  which 
jewelers  prefer  to  sell.  To  give  effect  to  the  idea,  a 
string  of  doggerel,  bad  enough  to  be  ancient,  has  been 
bound  to  the  months  and  stones,  and  it  has  been  so 
widely  circulated  of  late  as  to  be  established  in  the  trade 
and  the  popular  mind  as  authoritative.  Behind  every 
superstition  somewhere,  interested  motives  are  to  be 
found  hiding. 

Of  these  birthstones,  the  diamond  is  awarded  to 
April,  and  is  said  to  typify  purity  and  to  preserve  peace. 
Undoubtedly  it  has  preserved  peace  under  many  threat- 
ening conditions. 

Various  magic  powers  and  medicinal  virtues  have  at 
different  times  been  ascribed  to  the  gem.  One  said  it 
warded  off  mania;  another  that  it  was  an  antidote  for 
poisons,  though  the  exact  method  of  applying  or  admin- 
istering it  has  not  been  preserved  with  the  prescrip- 
tion. One  writer  claimed  that  if  it  were  placed  upon 
the  forehead  of  a  woman  while  she  slept,  it  would  cause 
her  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  her  heart.  One  less  imag- 
inative, but  wiser  and  more  practical,  said  that,  placed 
upon  a  woman's  hand  it  brought  felicity.  Some  prob- 
ably confounding  the  ancient  superstition  about  the  pearl, 
averred  that  the  diamond  brought  tears  to  its  possessor, 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         405 

but  of  all  the  absurd  things  which  have  been  said  and 
written  about  it,  purity,  peace  and  April,  as  the  proper 
accompaniments  of  the  gem,  have  survived  and  remain 
a  popular  fancy  to-day. 

With  the  cutting  and  polishing  of  the  stone  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  a  new  place  was  found  for  it  in  litera- 
ture. As  a  gem  it  became  more  valued  and  far  more 
generally  desired.  With  its  increased  importance  came 
greater  interest  in  it.  Chroniclers  of  events  among  the 
great  gave  it  more  attention.  Scientists  were  attracted 
to  speculate  upon  its  nature,  genesis,  and  qualities. 
Artisans  sought  to  improve  it.  Men  of  commerce  gave 
more  regard  to  it  as  a  thing  pregnant  with  profit.  The 
newly  developed  beauties  awakened  the  imagination  of 
poets  and  romancers,  and  all  of  them  began  to  include 
it  more  frequently  in  their  writings. 

A  jeweler  often  hears  from  those  who  bring  to  him 
old  gold  jewelry  for  sale,  the  commendation,  "  I  know 
this  is  good  because  it  is  very  old."  If  he  is  expe- 
rienced, this  amuses  him,  for  he  knows  that  the  jewelers 
of  old  cheated  their  public  to  an  extent  impossible  now. 
Their  gold  chains,  many  of  them,  had  barely  enough 
gold  in  them  to  save  the  name,  they  were  of  such  low 
grade.  But  that  did  not  suffice;  the  ends  of  the  chain 
were  decorated  with  lion's  heads,  or  other  fancy  designs 
which  could  be  swelled  out  to  hold  much  lead,  for  the 
trimmings,  as  they  were  called,  were  made  of  very  thin 
shells  of  gold  and  filled  with  the  cheap  and  heavy  metal. 
So  also  were  the  bars  and  swivels.  Thus  equipped  for 
profit,  the  loaded  chain  was  thrown  into  the  scale  and 
weighed  as  gold.  In  all  ages,  the  measure  of  the  sell- 
er's honesty  has  been  the  knowledge  of  the  buyer. 


406  THE  DIAMOND 

Where  ignorance  abounds,  rascality  thrives,  and  there 
was  abundant  ignorance  in  the  olden  times  about  jewelry 
and  jewels. 

Most  of  our  current  newspaper  and  magazine  litera- 
ture about  precious  stones,  is  a  rehash  of  ancient  fables 
written  by  men  who  knew  little  of  the  things  they  wrote 
about.  They  gathered  their  information  largely  from 
the  advertisements  of  dealers,  who  endowed  their  wares 
with  any  virtue  which  might  assist  in  selling  them. 
And  these  dealers  were  doubtless  assisted  by  men  in 
authority  and  high  place.  Even  in  these  days,  if  one 
would  place  a  spring-water  on  the  market,  he  must  first 
secure  the  recommendation  of  a  physician,  and  that  is 
to  be  had  for  a  fee.  The  vendor  of  every  nostrum  has 
letters  by  the  thousand  from  grateful  dupes,  who  think 
they  have  been  benefited  by  swallowing  it,  and  know  they 
would  like  to  see  their  letters  of  acknowledgment  in 
print.  Ministers  have  been  known  to  sing  the  praises 
of  gold  mines  in  which  they  had  an  interest  that  cost 
them  nothing.  Lords  of  high  degree  and  smaller  fry 
are  constantly  lending  their  names  to  doubtful  enter- 
prises, for  a  consideration.  It  is  but  fair  to  presume, 
therefore,  that  in  a  stage  of  the  same  old  human  race, 
where  ignorance  was  even  more  rife  than  now,  apostle 
and  birth  stones,  charms,  amulets,  and  antidotes,  were 
established  in  the  public  faith,  not  by  an  apparent 
demonstration  of  fact,  but  by  the  reiterations  of  those 
who  were  seeking  profit,  aided  by  others  whose  place 
or  profession  inspired  confidence. 

After  the  days  of  oral  tradition  came  the  writer. 
Naturally  imaginative,  desirous  of  supplying  that  which 
the  people  would  read,  and  therefore  inclined  to 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         407 

elaborate,  rather  than  try  out  a  tradition  long  fondly  re- 
ceived, he  gathered  the  fables  and  superstitions  of  his 
time,  endowed  them  with  a  halo  of  mystery  and  romance, 
and  without  asserting  the  truth  of  manifest  absurdities, 
presented  them  so  linked  with  age  and  the  ghosts  of 
past  knowledge  and  wisdom,  that  the  people  received  at 
their  hands  as  facts,  fables  which  had  not  even  a  founda- 
tion in  fact.  Oftentimes  he  went  farther,  and  himself 
declared  the  grotesque  little  images  carved  out  of  im- 
mature imaginations  by  wily  traders,  blatant  astrologers, 
venal  priests,  and  the  like,  to  be  veritable  living  truths. 
And  the  people,  seeing  that  they  were  awkward  wooden 
things  without  similitude  or  the  breath  of  life,  neverthe- 
less believed.  They  do  yet,  for  now,  one  may  read 
that  diamonds  live  and  will  sweat  in  the  presence  of 
poisons;  not  given  as  an  example  of  the  marvelous 
effrontery  and  credulity  of  past  ages,  but  with  the  as- 
sertion that  it  is  a  fact  which  has  been  many  times 
demonstrated.  If  one  breathes  upon  a  cold  diamond,  a 
mist  will  immediately  appear  upon  the  surface  of  it, 
whether  poison  be  present  or  not.  It  is  yet  told  that 
the  diamond  in  Aaron's  breastplate  became  dark  when 
a  guilty  man  charged  with  crime  was  brought  before 
him,  and  sparkled  more  brilliantly  if  the  prisoner  was 
innocent,  and  that  it  became  the  color  of  blood  when 
the  sins  of  the  people  should  be  punished.  Of  old, 
churches  were  responsible  for  many  of  the  lies  which 
masqueraded  as  truth.  Wretched  priesthoods,  more  in- 
terested in  maintaining  a  subservient  laity  than  in  spread- 
ing the  sublime  truths  of  their  churches,  sought  by 
every  means  to  frighten  and  lure.  Precious  stones,  hav- 
ing a  strong  hold  on  the  imaginations  of  people  gener- 


4o8  THE  DIAMOND 

ally,  were  used  among  other  things  to  intimidate  and 
awe,  and  so  to  the  stones  in  the  High  Priest's  breast- 
plate, teachers  of  the  law  ascribed  magic  powers. 
Priests  and  saints  of  the  Roman  Church  founded  legends 
of  the  emerald  cup  of  the  last  supper,  and  the  miraculous 
virtues  of  the  sapphire,  etc.  To  uphold  the  tyrannical 
power  of  rulers,  jewels  of  kings  were  endowed  with  the 
power  to  heal,  as  for  instance,  the  Sapphire  of  Edward 
the  Confessor.  It  seems  probable,  however,  that  these 
beliefs  were  of  gradual  growth,  becoming  more  influ- 
ential as  time  and  constant  repetition  and  enlargement 
of  the  story  gave  force  to  the  claim.  Any  absurdity 
continually  asseverated  will  finally  be  accepted  by  a 
large  number  of  people  as  a  matter  of  fact. 

But  not  alone  are  ulterior  motives  blamable  for  the 
foolish  superstitions  about  precious  stones.  As  there 
are  individuals  in  every  age  who  in  attempting  to  grasp 
the  mysteries  of  existence  lose  their  hold  on  facts  within 
the  compass  of  their  understanding,  and  floundering, 
clutch  myths  as  answers  to  their  unanswerable  questions, 
so  in  the  ebb  and  flow  of  thought  throughout  the  ages, 
mankind  passes  again  and  again  by  waves  from  the 
depths  of  gross  and  brutal  unreason  to  mysticism. 
As  a  comet  passing  myriads  of  miles  away,  back  through 
its  sublime  orbit  to  infinite  space,  was  a  writing  on  the 
wall  of  this  poor  Earth's  domain  to  the  ignorant,  so 
the  change  of  color  in  the  turquoise  by  chemical  re- 
action was  accepted  as  a  sign  of  approaching  calamity. 
These  are  the  imaginations  of  ignorance.  From  this 
stage  men  passed  to  one  of  greater  enlightenment,  in 
which  the  beautiful  qualities  of  precious  stones  re- 
minded them  of  spiritual  things,  and  they  made  of  them 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         409 

symbols.  To  the  poetic  imagination,  the  ruby  symbolized 
the  blood-red  passion  of  love,  and  the  emerald,  chastity. 
So  qualities  of  the  mind  and  person,  months  in  the 
year,  sacred  names  and  religious  ordinances,  were  as- 
sociated with  the  different  beautiful  stones  which  came 
to  be  accepted  as  their  symbols.  But  the  wave  swept 
on  to  the  mysticism  of  the  Jewish  Cabala  and  gnosti- 
cism. By  the  influence  of  that  age,  stones  were  in- 
vested with  occult  powers;  diamonds  conferred  spiritual 
insight  and  promoted  peace  and  purity;  the  topaz,  by 
quenching  the  hot  blood  of  sensuality,  preserved  its 
wearer  from  lustful  desire,  and  so  on. 

With  the  eighteenth  century  came  a  succeeding  wave 
of  calm  reasoning  and  scientific  research.  Since  then 
it  is  dawning  upon  us  that  the  wonders  of  fact  are  greater 
than  the  imaginations  of  ignorance;  that  the  marvels  of 
Nature's  processes  are  more  delightful  than  the  magic  of 
the  esoteric. 

Now  the  diamond  has  a  large  place  in  the  literature 
of  commerce  and  science.  Because  it.  came  to  prom- 
inence and  general  knowledge  later  than  most  other 
precious  stones,  and  after  the  age  of  superstition  and 
gnosticism,  not  as  much  reference  to  it  is  bequeathed 
to  us  from  the  dark  ages.  Talismans,  amulets,  and 
occult  powers  are  connected  with  other  stones  which 
were  more  widely  known  and  traded  in  when  the  dia- 
mond was  yet  the  companion  of  the  lords  of  men  only. 
Newly  invented  stories  of  magic  cannot  long  survive 
twentieth  century  light;  the  mummified  beliefs  of  past 
ages  alone  can  be  safely  exposed  occasionally  to  vivify 
trade,  and  satisfy  the  child-craving  of  the  human  heart 
for  fairy  tales.  Were  a  dealer  to  recommend  the  pur- 


410  THE  DIAMOND 

chase  of  a  diamond  because  it  would  perspire  in  the 
presence  of  poisons,  the  prospective  customer  would 
leave  him  in  disgust,  but  the  same  statement  in  a  daily 
paper,  endorsed  by  the  name  of  some  wise  (?)  man 
of  an  unwise  age  centuries  back,  would  not  be  without 
influence.  Print  has  been  so  clothed  with  authority 
that,  yellow  journalism  notwithstanding,  the  public  still 
fail  to  recognize  a  lie  in  that  garb. 

Although  the  wide  diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of 
facts  now,  wrill  not  permit  the  old  time  recklessness  of 
misstatement  in  one  direction,  it  has  opened  a  new  op- 
portunity and  another  form  of  credulity,  of  which  sen- 
sational writers  are  taking  advantage.  The  wonderful 
developments  of  science  of  late  have  prepared  the  public 
mind  to  believe  any  wild  statement  if  given  as  a  scien- 
tific fact.  Let  a  scientist  state  that  radium  affects  the 
color  of  precious  stones,  and  in  a  few  weeks,  magazines, 
trade  journals,  and  the  daily  papers,  teem  with  articles 
describing  in  detail  the  process  by  which  rubies,  sap- 
phires, emeralds,  topaz,  can,  by  association  with  radium, 
be  made  out  of  ordinary  corundum.  In  a  month  they 
have  changed  the  simple  transformation  of  a  few  colors, 
into  the  transmutation  at  will  of  minerals,  for  many 
elements  of  which  some  of  these  stones  are  formed  do 
not  exist  in  corundum.  So  also  if  one  announces  that 
he  can  make  diamond  out  of  something  other  than  the 
one  thing  (carbon)  which  a  diamond  is,  the  absurdity 
is  hawked  from  San  Francisco  to  St.  Petersburg;  chiefly 
between  the  first  place  and  New  York. 

The  literature  of  advertising  is  sufficiently  extensive 
and  important  to  be  worthy  of  notice.  The  character 
of  it  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  in  accordance  with  the  age. 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         41 1 

When  a  dealer  advertises  diamonds  to-day  he  appeals 
chiefly  to  the  commercial  instinct.  In  the  old  days 
appeal  was  made  to  superstition.  But  withal,  there  was 
infused  in  it  an  element  of  poetry  entirely  lacking  now. 
And  there  is  evidence  that  poets  were  hired  to  sing  the 
praises  of  his  beautiful  treasures,  by  the  old  time  dealer. 
After  descanting  upon  the  natural  glories  of  the  stone, 
its  magic  virtues  were  enumerated  with  such  liberality, 
that  no  disease  of  the  body  or  the  mind  could  entirely 
escape.  To  surround  it  with  a  rosy  mist  of  romance, 
he  told,  without  caring  much  for  facts,  of  the  mysterious 
far-away  lands  from  which  it  came.  One  great  writer 
informed  his  readers  that  the  most  precious  sapphire 
came  from  the  land  of  the  Turk  and  an  inferior  kind 
from  Libya,  which  was  the  Africa  of  the  Greeks.  The 
diamond,  being  uncommon  and  little  known  in  those 
days,  escaped  much  of  the  puffery  given  to  other  gems, 
but  when  later  it  came  to  more  general  knowledge, 
many  of  the  virtues  hitherto  ascribed  to  others  were 
transferred  to  it.  Many  pages  would  be  filled  were  all 
the  things  it  could  do  enumerated.  It  would  banish 
bad  dreams  due  to  stomach  trouble;  promote  purity  and 
peace;  ensure  harmony  between  man  and  wife; 
strengthen  wedded  love.  In  all  this  there  was  doubt- 
less an  element  of  truth,  for  men  find  to-day,  that  the 
sage  advice  with  which  the  ancient  dealer  in  precious 
stones  closed  his  homily,  "  to  give  the  diamond  freely," 
is  conducive  to  peace  and  harmony. 

Jewelers  were  the  quacks  of  the  Middle  Ages.  For 
about  every  ill  that  human  flesh  is  heir  to,  they  had  a 
specific,  and  as  the  claims  they  made  were  founded  en- 
tirely upon  imagination,  it  often  happened  that  one  stone 


412  THE  DIAMOND 

was  advertised  by  various  dealers  as  a  remedy  for  many 
ills,  and  each  disease  had  as  many  stones  which  would 
surely  cure.  This  was  pleasant  for  the  sick,  as  they 
could  have  a  choice  of  beautiful  remedies  for  their 
money  and  it  is  convenient  for  the  writer  of  to-day  for 
he  can  attach  almost  any  fancy  to  a  precious  stone,  and 
be  sure  of  warrant  for  it  somewhere  in  ancient  lore. 

Now  romance  and  poetry  have  faded  from  the  adver- 
tisement. With  swarms  of  young  men  and  women, 
barely  out  of  their  teens,  parading  our  streets  with  dress- 
suit  cases  plastered  over  with  marks  of  Cairo  and  Cal- 
cutta ;  with  newspaper  columns  carrying  the  prosaic  facts 
of  output,  prices,  and  values  of  diamonds  and  diamond- 
mine  shares;  with  fast  steamships  linking  the  cities  of 
the  west  with  the  ports  of  the  tawny  east,  and  railroads 
taking  a  traveling  world  through  the  jungles  of  India 
and  Africa,  the  haze  is  lifted,  and  the  things  we  see  are 
shorn  of  the  dear  imaginings  old-time  eyes  thought  they 
saw  in  its  sunny  vaporings.  India,  Africa,  and  Cathay, 
are  pounds,  shillings  and  pence  to  the  Englishman;  dol- 
lars and  cents  to  the  American  now,  and  they  who  deal 
in  the  things  which  came  therefrom  have  taken  the  cue. 
There  is  little  variety  in  the  song  they  sing;  the  re- 
frain is  always  the  same,  "  The  diamond  I  offer  you  for 
one  hundred  dollars  is  worth  one  hundred  and  ten, 
and  when  the  syndicate  raises  the  price  of  rough  five 
per  cent,  it  will  be  worth  so  much  more/'  The  descrip- 
tion one  dealer  gives  of  the  stone  he  is  offering  to  sell 
for  one  hundred  dollars,  if  true,  would  make  it  cheap 
to  an  importer  at  twice  the  amount;  another,  oblivious 
of  several  profits  added  to  the  first  cost,  writes  his  dia- 
mond up  as  a  good  investment;  all  alike  ignore  the 


DIAMONDS  IN  LITERATURE         413 

poetry  and  romance,  the  beauty  of  the  wonderful  crys- 
tal, the  exquisite  adaptation  of  art  to  Nature's  require- 
ments in  the  cutting  and  polishing  of  it,  and  degrade 
the  companion  of  royalty  and  beauty  to  the  sign  of 
dollars. 

And  because  the  diamond-advertising  literature  of  the 
day  reeks  so  with  the  spirit  of  the  bargain  counter,  and 
the  gem  flashes  so  commonly  from  the  unclean  hands  of 
politics,  vice  and  graft,  the  noblest  product  of  Nature's 
gigantic  laboratory  is  by  association,  oftentimes  made 
vulgar. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

AN    EXPENSIVE   FARCE 

'"T"NHE  first  decade  of  the  twentieth  century  has 
•*•  brought  to  light  the  greatest  diamond  and  the  most 
audacious  swindle  in  the  history  of  diamonds. 

In  May,.  1905,  a  Frenchman  named  Henry  Lemoine 
approached  Sir  Julius  Wernher,  of  the  London  firm 
Wernher,  Beit  &  Co.,  a  large  diamond  house,  with  a 
scheme  for  making  diamonds  synthetically.  He  claimed 
that  he  could  produce  diamonds  by  means  of  an  electric 
furnace,  which  could  not  be  distinguished  from  natural 
ones. 

He  had  already  had  some  experience  in  fishing  with 
his  tempting  bait  among  smaller  fry,  and  it  is  known 
that  he  had  gathered  in  a  few  thousands  here  and  there, 
in  amounts  of  from  one  to  three  thousand  dollars,  from 
his  dupes.  It  may  be  that  greater  successes  had  re- 
warded his  efforts,  for  most  men  who  have  been  swin- 
dled dislike  publicity  and  would  rather  suffer  the  ills 
they  have,  in  the  solitude  of  their  own  knowledge,  than 
expose  them  for  the  amusement  of  their  friends ;  it  was 
sufficient  to  embolden  him  to  carry  his  scheme  to  a 
place  where  one  might  think  there  ,was  the  smallest  pos- 
sibility of  success  and  the  greatest  certainty  of  exposure 
for  a  fraud,  the  heart  of  the  diamond  business.  Per- 
haps the  audacity  was  a  convincing  argument  in  favor  of 
his  ability  to  do  what  he  claimed.  The  stakes  were 

414 


AN  EXPENSIVE  FARCE  415 

large;  millions  of  dollars  worth  could  be  sold,  the  stock 
market  could  be  manipulated  for  millions,  or  the  formula 
would  be  worth  millions  to  the  men  who  controlled  the 
natural  supply. 

Whatever  the  arguments  or  apparent  proofs  submitted, 
Sir  Julius  became  sufficiently  interested  to  go  to  Paris 
and  visit  Lemoine's  house  in  the  Rue  Lecourbe  to  see 
what  could  be  done.  There,  Lemoine  convinced  his 
visitor  that  he  had  actually  manufactured  spme  dia- 
monds which  were  found  in  the  furnace  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  experiments.  Lord  Armstrong  was  also  in- 
vited to  be  present  at  another  seance  and  was  equally 
certain  that  they  were  diamonds  which  were  produced 
in  the  furnace,  and  that  no  trick  had  been  performed. 
It  has  been  said  since,  that  a  person  has  been  discovered 
who  supplied  Lemoine  with  fusible  .plugs,  in  which  it 
is  supposed  the  diamonds  afterwards  found  in  the  cru- 
cible, were  concealed. 

As  a  result  of  these  demonstrations  Sir  Julius  Wern- 
her  gave  Lemoine  $320,000  for  the  establishment  of  a 
laboratory  at  Pau. 

Previous  to  approaching  Sir  Julius  in  the  first  place, 
Lemoine  had  deposited  in  the  Union  of  London  and 
Smith's  Bank,  a  sealed  envelope  which  he  claimed  con- 
tained the  formula  for  making  diamonds. 

Time  moved  along  at  its  usual  rate,  but  the  pace  was 
too  fast  for  the  diamond  magician.  The  diamonds 
did  not  materialize  with  the  same  speed;  indeed,  they 
were  altogether  wanting.  Doubts  followed  impatience 
and  finally  developed  full-fledged  and  active  suspicions, 
which  culminated  in  the  arrest  of  Lemoine  in  Paris  in 
January,  1908,  at  the  instance  of  Sir  Julius  Wernher, 


416  THE  DIAMOND 

charged  with  fraud.  The  mysterious  envelope  was 
called  for.  Sir  Julius  offered  Lemoine  an  additional 
$80,000  for  it,  but  the  prisoner,  assisted  by  his  counsel, 
Maitre  Labori,  strenuously  resisted  every  attempt  to  ob- 
tain possession  of  the  envelope,  and  Mme.  Lemoine  was 
sent  to  London  to  stop  the  Bank  from  giving  it  up. 
Sir  Julius  followed  post  haste  to  secure  it  if  possible, 
before  she  got  an  injunction  preventing.  Lord  Arm- 
strong defended  the  Frenchman  by  saying  that  the  crys- 
tals he  made  were  certainly  genuine  diamonds.  It 
looked  like  a  fight  for  millions  between  an  inventor  and 
capital. 

The  newspapers  exploited  the  matter,  and  though  the 
affair  was  covered  with  the  earmarks  of  fraud,  many 
believed  that  the  envelope  in  London  contained  the  great 
secret.  In  the  trade,  the  claim  had  little  if  any  influ- 
ence. 

Revelations  came  with  the  trial.  Lemoine  accused 
Sir  Julius  of  conspiring  with  him  to  sell  the  secret  to  the 
De  Beers  Company  for  $25,000,000.  The  Frenchman  was 
said  to  be  preparing  to  buy  De  Beers  shares  when  they 
dropped  on  the  publication  of  stories  about  his  suc- 
cess. There  seemed  to  be  more  need  for  a  press-agent 
and  a  broker,  in  the  scheme,  than  a  laboratory. 

Lemoine  was  held  prisoner  for  two  months,  during 
which  the  contest  for  the  envelope  was  transferred  to 
London.  The  Bow  Street  magistrate  refused  to  allow 
anyone  to  remove  it.  The  Court  of  King's  Bench  re- 
versed his  decision  on  April  30,  and  authorized  the 
Bank  to  hand  it  over  to  the  French  court.  Before  that 
decision,  Lemoine  maintained  the  attitude  of  a  man 
righting  desperately  to  hold  a  valuable  secret.  The 


AN  EXPENSIVE  FARCE  417 

Paris  correspondent  of  the  Daily  Telegraph  sent  the  fol- 
lowing to  his  paper: 

"  M.  Lemoine  has  had  a  slight  attack  of  influenza. 
He  has,  however,  made  some  further  statements  which 
are  worth  noticing,  and  one  is  that  the  sealed  envelope 
deposited  in  the  London  bank  does  not  contain  the  for- 
mula for  making  diamonds,  but  concerns  the  manufacture 
of  bort.  As  regards  this,  he  says  that  the  truth  has  never 
before  been  made  public.  There  were  two  distinct  con- 
tracts, one  concerning  the  manufacture  of  bort,  and  the 
other  that  of  diamonds.  The  second  contract  was  never 
carried  out.  M.  Lemoine  offered  no  further  explana- 
tion on  this  point. 

"  Regarding  his  future  experiments,  he  will  not  let  the 
public,  and  especially  the  newspapers,  into  the  secret  as 
to  the  time  and  place,  though  he  allowed  it  to  be  under- 
stood that  the  time  would  most  likely  be  in  July.  He 
does  not  wish  to  be  disturbed  by  troops  of  reporters 
hanging  about  his  door  when  he  is  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  diamonds.  Of  course,  he  will  have  to  in- 
stall an  entirely  new  workshop  before  he  can  resume 
operations." 

The  release  of  the  envelope  to  the  French  Court  drove 
Lemoine  to  an  extremity.  He  was  equal  to  the  situa- 
tion. He  said  he  had  no  objection  to  prove  his  ability 
to  the  Court  by  actually  manufacturing  diamonds,  but 
would  not  consent  to  have  his  secret  formula  read  and 
published.  That  appeared  reasonable.  He  was  af- 
forded every  facility  and  given  until  June  9  to  make 
his  claims  good.  On  the  gth  he  appeared  in  court  and 
said  that  unforeseen  circumstances  had  rendered  his  ex- 
periments abortive,  but  with  the  greatest  confidence 
27 


4i 8  THE  DIAMOND 

asked  for  and  obtained  another  week's  time.  He  did 
not  appear  then,  and  it  was  announced  that  he  had 
fled.  The  envelope  was  then  opened  and  the  formula 
read.  It  was  lengthy  but  the  gist  of  it  was  "  Place 
powdered  carbon  and  sugar  in  a  crucible  in  an  electric 
furnace.  Use  a  current  of  from  1,500  to  1,800  amperes 
under  a  tension  of  no  volts,  and  so  heat  to  1,600  de- 
grees. Then  put  pressure  on  the  cover  of  the  crucible 
and  diamonds  should  be  found  therein."  It  was  an- 
other, "  should  be,"  which  does  not  happen. 

The  judge,  after  stating  that  he  had  received  a  let- 
ter from  Lemoine,  saying  that  he  had  failed  at  his  St. 
Denis  factory,  but  intended  to  continue  his  studies  else- 
where, ordered  the  case  to  be  sent  before  the  Correc- 
tional Court,  by  which  Lemoine  would  be  given  the 
maximum  penalty  of  twenty  years'  imprisonment  by  de- 
fault. 

So  ended  another  lesson. 


IMPORTATIONS 


419 


IMPORTATIONS     OF    DIAMONDS    INTO    THE    UNITED 
STATES  FROM  1867  —  YEARS  ENDING  JUNE  30. 

Rough.  Cut. 

1867  $  1,317,420 

1868  1,060,544 

1869  1,997,282 

1870  1,768,324 

1871  2,340,482 

1872  2,939,155 

1873 $  176,426  2,917,216 

1874 144,629  2,158,872 

1875  211,920  3,234,319 

1876  186404  2,409,516 

1877  78,033  2,110,215 

1878  63,270  2,970,469 

1879  104,158  3,841,335 

1880  129,207  6,690,912 

1881  253,596  8,320,315 

1882  449,513  8,377,200 

1883  443,996  7,598,176 

1884  367,816  8,712,315 

1885 371,679  5,628,916 

1886 332,822  7,915,660 

1887  262,357  10,526,998 

1888  322,356  10,473,329 

1889  195,341  11,466,708 

1890  202,853  12,180,482 

1891  804,626  12,466,976 

1892  1,096,587  12,354,420 

1893  1,066,586  15,168,746 

1894  566,267  4,844,809 

1805 562,890  6,863,288 

1896  113,888  6,598,527 

1897  47,865  1,937,944 

1898 2,517,759  4,438,030 

1899  3,678,266  8,497,284 


420  THE  DIAMOND 

Rough.         Cut. 

1900  3,891,226        7,890,945 

1901 6,574,630       11,680,823 

1902  6,154,853       12,732,670 

1903  10,933,188       15,574,598 

1904  8,776,418       10,028,452 

1905  10,390,917       17,019,530 

1906  io,579,6"54       24,282,897 

1907  11,154,152       23,965,438 

1908  4,452,320        9,312,095 

1909    4,761,166  19,313,585 

FOR   10    MONTHS    TO   APRIL   30,    I9IO. 
IpIO      8,936,112  25,594,018 

The  foregoing  figures  do  not  give  an  absolutely  exact 
statement  of  the  importations  of  diamond  in  all  its 
forms,  but  it  is  very  close  to  facts.  The  items  are 
from  data  furnished  by  the  customs  authorities  who  tab- 
ulate the  dutiable  and  nondutiable  items  without  regard 
to  the  precise  nature  of  the  articles,  and  as  there  have 
been  several  changes  in  the  tariff,  the  various  kinds  have 
been  shifted  and  differently  combined.  Uncut  diamonds 
of  the  jewel  class  were  first  specified  by  our  customs  in 
1885.  From  1890,  "  rough  "  includes  miners,  glaziers 
and  engravers  diamonds,  and  also  jewels  for  watches 
and  clocks  up  to  1897.  Under  the  same  heading  all 
other  uncut  precious  stones  not  specified,  were  included 
prior  to  1895.  Under  "  Cut,"  all  precious  stones  in- 
cluding pearls,  and  imitation  stones  were  included  until 
1897.  (Imitation  stones  were  included  until  1899.) 
By  that  time  the  demand  for  pearls  and  what  are  termed 
"  fancy  stones,"  had  grown  to  be  an  item  of  importance. 
The  importations  of  that  class  amounted  in  1897  to 
$686,789.  Uncut  diamonds  for  jewels  were  tabulated 


IMPORTATIONS  421 

with  "  cut "  during  the  operation  of  the  Wilson  tariff. 
Since  1897  "  cut  "  stands  for  unset  cut  diamonds  only. 

The  Wilson  tariff  was  passed  in  1894;  the  Dingley 
tariff  in  1897.  The  amounts  given  during  that  interval 
do  not  represent  all  that  were  imported,  but  those  only 
which  came  through  the  customs;  undoubtedly  many 
were  smuggled  in.  Nor  do  the  amounts  in  value  give 
an  adequate  idea  of  the  comparative  yearly  quantities. 
So  great  has  been  the  advance  in  price  that  the  number 
of  carats  imported  in  1888  was  probably  twice  that 
of  1908. 

Dust  or  bort  has  increased  in  addition,  from  $140 
in  1869  to  $447,575  in  1905.  Since  then  the  importa- 
tions have  declined  as  follows: 

1906  $133,725 

1907  189,121 

1908  71,503 

1909  $181,721 

1910  (10  mo.  to  April)    36,286 

Prior  to  and  since  the  Wilson  tariff,  rough  diamonds 
were  nondutiable  and  there  was  and  is  a  duty  of  ten 
per  cent,  on  unset  cut  diamonds.  During  the  Wilson 
tariff  the  duty  was  ten  per  cent,  on  rough,  and  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  on  cut  diamonds. 


422  THE  DIAMOND 


DIGEST 

Hardness,  10,  Moh's  scale. 

Specific  gravity.     3.48  to  3.52.      (Carbonado,  3.14  to 

3-41.) 

Index  of  refraction.     2.439. 
Singly  refractive,  reflective  and  dispersive. 
Total  reflection  from  inner  facets  at  24°  15'. 
Composition:    pure  carbon. 
Crystallization.     Isometric. 

Cleavage  perfect,  parallel  to  the  facets  of  the  octahedra. 
Fracture,  conchoidal. 
Streak,  gray  to  black:  the  finer  the  material  the  darker 

the  powder. 

Luster,  adamantine.     Transparent. 
Phosphoresces  in  the  presence  of  radium;  occasionally 

after  exposure  to  heat  or  solar  light. 
Electric  in  the  rough.     Though  a  nonconductor,  it  be- 
comes positively  electric,  by  friction. 
Infusible,  not  acted  upon  by  acids  or  alkalies,  but  burns 

in   oxygen   under   intense   heat   without   appreciable 

residue  to  carbon  dioxide. 
Colors,  white  and  with  tints  of  blue,  yellow,  brown, 

green,  and  pink.     Also  in  red,  green,  blue,  yellow, 

brown,  and  orange  of  decided  color. 
Common  imperfections,  carbon  spots,  inclusions  of  titanic 

iron,  etc.,  fractures,  feathers,  bubbles  and  white  specks. 


DIGEST  423 

Occurs  in  South  Africa,  Brazil,  India,  Borneo,  Sumatra, 

British  and  Dutch  Guiana,  Australia,  Russia,  China, 

and  the  United  States. 
Bort  comes  principally  from  Africa,  and  carbonado  from 

Brazil  only. 
Symbolizes  purity,  preserves  peace,  prevents  storms;  the 

month  of  April. 
Third  stone  of  the  second  row  in  the  Jewish   High 

Priest's  breastplate. 


424  THE  DIAMOND 


GLOSSARY 

BAHIAS. —  Brazil  diamonds  from  the  Bahia  district. 

BIZEL. —  The   upper   portion,    above   the   girdle,    of   a   brilliant-cut 

diamond. 

BLUE  GROUND. —  Unoxidized  rock  of  the  diamond  chimneys. 
BORT. —  Diamonds  fit  for  mechanical  purposes  only. 
BRUTING. —  Polishing  diamonds  by  rubbing  them  together. 
BUBBLES. —  Small,  hollow-appearing  specks  in  the  body  of  the  stone. 
BYWATERS. —  Decidedly  yellowish  diamonds. 

CAPES. —  Yellowish  white  diamonds. 

CARAT. —  An  unofficial  weight  used  for  weighing  precious  stones. 

CARBON  SPOTS. —  Opaque  black  spots  in  diamonds. 

CASCALHO. —  Diamondiferous  gravels,  Brazil. 

CHIPS. —  Cleavage  under  three-fourths  of  a  carat. 

CLATERSAL. —  Small  diamond  splints  from  which  diamond  powder 
is  produced  by  crushing. 

CLEAN. —  Free  from  noticeable  flaws. 

CLEAVAGE. —  Diamond  crystals  which  require  cleaving,  also  pieces 
cleaved,  and  large  fragments. 

CLOUDS. —  Flat,  subtransparent  blotches  along  the  grain  of  the  stone. 

CLOSE-GOODS. —  Diamond  crystals  requiring  no  preparation  for  cut- 
ting. 

COLOR-PLAY. —  Prismatic  colors  produced  by  dispersion. 

COMPOUND. —  An  enclosure  at  Kimberley  in  which  the  natives  are 
held  while  they  work  in  the  De  Beers  Consolidated  Mines. 

CRYSTALS.—  White  diamonds. 

CULET. —  Small  flat  facet  at  the  bottom  of  a  brilliant-cut  diamond. 

DIAMOND  DRILLS. —  Cylindrical  iron  pipes  having  carbon  or  bort  set 

in  the  edge  as  teeth,  for  drilling. 
DOP.— Device  for  holding  diamond  during  the  process  of  cutting 

and  polishing. 

ESTRELLADA. —  Decomposed  stratified  rock  showing  starry  white 
points.  A  diamondiferous  deposit  of  Brazil. 


GLOSSARY  425 

EXOTIC-FRAGMENTS. —  Inclusions  of  foreign  rock  unlike  surrounding 
reef,  found  in  diamond  chimneys. 

FALSE  COLOR. —  Diamonds  showing  different  tints  of  color  in  different 
lights. 

FANCIES. —  Diamonds  of  fine  and  decided  colors. 

FEATHERS. —  White,  subtransparent  lines  in  the  body  of  the  stone. 

FISH-EYE. — Diamond  cut  too  thin  to  secure  the  angle  of  total  reflec- 
tion from  the  interior  facets. 

FLATS.— Thin  diamond  crystals  or  parts  of  crystal  used  for  draw- 
plates. 

FLOATING-REEF. —  Inclusions  of  surrounding  reef  in  the  rock  of  the 
diamond  chimneys. 

FLOORS. —  Level  stretches  of  ground  on  which  the  diamondiferous 
rock  of  the  African  Mines  is  weathered. 

GIRDLE. —  Edge  of  brilliant-cut  diamond  at  junction  of  pavilion  and 
bizel:  greatest  circumference  edge. 

GLASSIES. —  Transparent   diamond   crystals. 

GLASSY. —  Diamonds  lacking  sharpness  of  brilliancy. 

GLAZIERS'  DIAMONDS. —  Small  diamonds  or  corners  of  diamond  crys- 
tals, used  for  glass  cutting. 

GLESSEN. —  Semi-transparent  fissures   in   diamonds.    Feathers. 

GOLCONDAS. —  Indian  diamonds,  as  generally  applied. 

GORGULHO. —  Diamondiferous  quartz  and  clay  gravel  of  Brazil. 

GRAIN  MARKS. —  Lines  on  the  facet  surfaces  due  to  imperfect  polish- 
ing. 

GRUPIARAS.— Shallow  deposits  of  diamondiferous  gravel  on  the 
river  hills  of  Brazil. 

I.  D.  B.  ACT. —  A  law  passed  in  Cape  Colony,  South  Africa,  making 
illicit  diamond  buying  a  criminal  offense. 

.--  JAGERS. —  Fine  white  diamonds,  tending  to  a  blue  tint. 

KIMBERLITE. —  A  scrpentive  breccia  named  after  Kimberley,  where  it 

was  discovered  as  a  diamond-bearing  rock. 
KNIFE-EDGE. —  The  girdle  of  a  diamond  cut  to  a  sharp  edge. 
KOPJE.— A  small  hill  in  the  Boer  country  of  Africa. 

LUMPY. —  Said  of  stones  cut  too  thick. 


426  THE  DIAMOND 

MACLES. —  Twinned  crystals  in  which  the  junction  is  not  distinct. 

MAHABHARATA. —  Hindu  epic. 

MANGELIN.— Hindu  weight  equal  to  if£  carat. 

MELANGE. —  Mixed  sizes. 

MELEE. —  Small  diamonds. 

MUDDY. —  Lacking  internal  brilliancy. 

NAATS.— Thin  flat  crystals. 

NAIFES. —  Hindu  name  for  shapely  uncut  diamonds. 

NYF. —  Outer  part  or  skin  of  the  diamond  crystal. 

OFF-COLOR. —  Having  a  tint  of  undesirable  color. 
OLD-MINE. —  Old-cut  diamonds  of  good  color. 

PAGODA. —  Hindu  money  worth  eight  shillings  British. 
PAVILION. —  Under  part  of  brilliant-cut  diamond. 
,  PREMIERS. —  Diamonds  from  the  Premier  Mine;  as  commonly  used, 
diamonds  having  an  oily  luster  or  false  color. 

RATI. —  Hindu  weight,  variable  in  quantity  of  mass  according  to  use, 
time  and  place. 

REEF. —  Strata  of  earth  surrounding  diamond  chimneys. 

REJECTIONS. —  Diamonds  thrown  out  of  the  mixed  lots  as  unde- 
sirable. 

RIVERS. —  Diamonds  from  the  rivers  or  wet  diggings  of  Africa. 

ROUGH. —  Uncut  crystals. 

ROUND-STONES. —  Diamond  crystals  with  curved  facets,  and  roundish 
or  water-worn  crystals. 

SECUNDINA. —  A  clay  schist  which  usually  overlays  the  diamond- 
iferous  deposits  of  western  Minas  Geraes,  Brazil. 

SHARPS. —  Thin,  knife-edge  pieces  of  diamond  crystal. 

SIGHT. —  Opportunity  afforded  buyers  by  the  Diamond  Syndicate  to 
view  the  original  parcels  of  rough. 

SILVER-CAPES. —  White  diamonds  with  a  slight  tint  of  yellow. 

SPECIFIC  GRAVITY. —  Relative  weight  of  bulk  as  compared  with  dis- 
tilled water  at  60°  F. 

SPLINTS. —  Sharp-pointed  diamond  splinters,  or  cleavages  less  than 
one  carat. 

SPREAD. —  Surface  in  proportion  to  the  depth  of  a  cut  stone. 


GLOSSARY  427 

TABLE.— Large  flat  facet  on  top  of  brilliant-cut  diamond. 

TAUA. —  A  breccia  of  the  Agua  Suja  district,  Brazil,  particularly 
rich  in  diamonds. 

TORN-END.— Three-cornered  pyramid  from  the  point  of  a  wassie; 
a  corner. 

TWINNED.— Crystals   formed   conjunctively. 

TWINS.— Crystals  which  show  the  junction  of  the  crystals  dis- 
tinctly. 

WASSIE. —  A  large  cleavage  split  for  cutting. 
WELL.— Dark  center  of  a  diamond  cut  too  thick. 
WESSELTONS. —  Fine  white  diamonds   supposed  to   come  from  the 
Wesselton  Mine. 

YELLOW-GROUND. —  Upper  part  of  the  diamondiferous  rock  in  the 
African  chimneys;  oxidized  blue-ground. 


INDEX 


Abbas  Mirzah,  85. 

Accidental  Color,  140. 

Adamant,   16,  19. 

Advertising  Literature,  410. 

Africa-Discovery  of  diamonds,  227. 

African  Mines,  227,  253. 

Agra,  The,  97. 

Agua  Suja,   181,  193- 

Ahmed  Shah,  70. 

Akbar  Shah,  The,  86. 

Akel  Khan,  64. 

Alexander  the  Great,  19. 

Alexandria,  118. 

Alevai,  Treaty  of,  230. 

Amsterdam,  118,  130. 

Anglo-African  Co.,  51.  285. 

Antwerp,    118,   130. 

Antwerp  cut,  125. 

Apostle  stones,  403. 

Arabs,  41. 

Arabian  diamonds,  159. 

Arkansas  diamonds,  223. 

Associate  minerals,  African,  273. 

Associate  minerals,  Australia,  210. 

Associate  minerals,  Borneo,  216. 

Associate  minerals,  Brazil,   194.   197- 

Associate    minerals,     British     Guiana, 

207. 

Associate  minerals,  India,  172. 
Associate  minerals,  Russia,  219. 
Atherstone,  Dr.  Guibon,  328. 
Aurungzebe,  63. 
Australian  diamond  fields,  aio. 
Austrian,  The,  89. 

B 

I 

Babur,   63. 
Bagagem,    180. 
Bahia,   182. 
Banaganpilly,   163. 


Bantam  layers,  273; 

Barkly,  Sir  Henry,  233. 

Barkly  West,  229. 

Barnato,  Barney,  47,  49. 

Barnato's  First  Company,  49,  246. 

Bateia,    193. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  ii« 

Bellary,  42,   163. 

Benvenuto   Cellini,  21. 

Bequem,  Louis  de,   117* 

Beynespoort  mine,  256* 

Bisnager,  42. 

Bizel,    119. 

Blue  ground,  244,  376. 

Boetius  De  Boot,  361. 

Bohemia   diamond,   220. 

Borneo,   214. 

Borneo  diamond  fields,  215. 

Bort,  315. 

Boyle,   Robert,   115,   361. 

Braganza,  The,  89. 

Brazil  mines,   177,  374. 

Brazil  mines,  yield   of,   46,   203. 

Breastplate,    High    Priests,    17. 

Brilliant  cut,    121. 

Briolette,   128. 

British    Guiana    diamond    fields,    206. 

Brown   (diamonds),   136. 

Bruges,    117. 

Bruting,   117. 

Bug-walks,  237. 

Bultfontein,  237,  285. 

Bultfontein    Consolidated    Co.,    51. 

Bundelkhand,  42,   163,   171. 

Buntat  intan,  218. 

Burning  diamonds,  361. 

By  waters,  136. 


California  redwood,  271. 
Canary  color,   142. 
Cannavieiras  district,    183,   191. 


429 


430 


INDEX 


Capes    (diamonds),   136. 

Carat,  332. 

Carbonado,    189,   319. 

Carimbe,   193. 

Cascalho,    193. 

Cawoods  Hope,  233. 

Ceratia,   334. 

Charles  I   diamond   seal,   97. 

Chemistry  of  diamonds,   366. 

Chimneys    (diamondiferous),  375. 

China  diamond  fields,  209. 

Chosroes,  prince,  85. 

Clean    (diamonds),    151. 

Cleavage,   124,   126. 

Cleaving,    127. 

Close  goods,  124. 

Clouds,   154. 

Colesburgh   Kopje,   238. 

Colombia,  220. 

Color,  to  judge  of,   148. 

Colorado  diamonds,  329. 
Combustibility,   361. 
Complementary  colors,  140. 
Compound   (De  Beers),  265. 
Concessions   (Brazil),   188. 
Corner  facets,   120. 
Cosmo  III,  361. 
Cost  to  the  world,  61. 
Coulour  mine,   62. 
Crystals   (diamonds),  135. 
Crystallization,    112,    173. 
Cuddapah,    163. 
Culet,   119. 
Cullinan,   The,   103. 
Cumberland,  The,  94. 
Cutting,   116,   124. 
Cutting  Borneo,  217. 


Danan  Radschah,  83. 

Darya-i-nur,  87. 

De  Beers  Company,  247. 

De  Beers  Central  Company,  49. 

De    Beers    Consolidated     Mines,    50, 

5»« 

De  Beers  Mine,   289. 
De  Beers  Mining  Company,  49. 
Deccan,  The,  41,   163. 
Dhulip   Singh,   70. 
Diamantina,   177. 
Diamond  Chimneys,  375. 


Diamond  claims,  Africa,  240. 

Diamond  doublets,    147. 

Diamond   drills,   319. 

Diamond  mines  in  So.  Africa,  227. 

Diamond  seal  of  Charles  I,  97. 

Diamond  Syndicate,  The,  54,  249. 

Dispersion,    1 16. 

Dresden,   The,  90. 

Dry    Diggings,   238. 

Dudley,  The,  92. 

Dutch  Guiana  diamond  fields,  209. 

Du  Toits  Pan,  237. 

Dutoitspan  Mine,  281. 


Early  African  diggers,  231. 

Eastern  Ghats,  163. 

Eclogite,   369. 

Elandsdrifts  dd.   Mining  Co.,  256, 

Electric  qualities,   115. 

Elphinstone,  Mr.,  70. 

Emir  Jemla,  62. 

Enclosures,    154. 

Engraved  diamonds,   17,  336. 

Estrellada,    195. 

Eugenie,  The,  88. 

Evance,   Sir  Stephen,  48. 

Excelsior,  The,  96. 

Exotic  fragments,  377. 

Experiments,   Dr.   Burton,   370. 

Experiments,   Hasslinger,   371. 

Experiments,  Prof.  Moissan,  365. 

Experiments,   radium,   115. 

Experiments,   Rousseau,   370. 

Experiments,   X-ray,   115. 

Explosion  of  diamonds,  367. 

F 

Fables,  403. 
False  colors,   136. 
Fancies,   136. 
Field-buyers,   Brazil,    189. 
First  African  diamond,  227. 
Fish-eye,   122. 
Flats,  317. 
Flaws,   152. 
Floating  reef,  377. 
Floors,   262. 
Florentine,  The,  89. 
Francis  I,  361. 


INDEX 


Frank   Smith  Mine,  255.  313. 
French  Company,  The,  50,  247. 


Gani  Coulour,  62. 

Garimpeiros,    178. 

Gem  Company,  The,  247. 

German    Southwest    Africa,    59,    277, 

313. 

Girdle,  120. 
Glasses,   149,  154. 
Glaziers'  diamonds,  317. 
Glessen,  149,  154. 
Goa,  179. 
Godavari,  41,  163. 
Golconda,  42,  163. 
Gordon  Orr,  The,  164. 
Grand   Duke   of  Tuscany,   The,  89. 
Grao,  1 86. 
Grao  Mogol,  181. 
Grease  shaking-tables,  270. 
Great  Diamond  Table,  The,  64. 
Great  Mogul,  The,  62,  90. 
Green  Diamond  of  Dresden,  The,  90. 
Griqualand  West  Co.,  The,  51,  282. 
Grupiaras,  195. 


Hardness,   113. 

Haulage   system,  Africa,  240. 

Hira  Khund,   172. 

Hope,  The,  84. 

Hortensis  Borghis,  63. 


I.  D.  B.  Act,  242. 
Illicit  trading,  Africa,  242. 
Imitation  diamonds,  328. 
Imports  of  rough,  131,  419. 
Inclusions,   152. 
Indian  cut,  128. 
Indian  fields,  41. 
Indian  mines,  159,  374. 
Inland  Transport  Co.,  234. 
Island,  The,  376. 
Itacolumite,   196. 


Jagers,   135. 

Jagersfontein,  255,  296. 
Jahalom,   16,  336. 
Jaurchund,  44,  73. 
Jehan,  Shah,  86. 
Journaleiro,  192. 
Jubilee,  The,  97. 
July  Diamond,  The,  92. 


Kaalfontein   mine,   256. 

Kaalvallei  mine,  256. 

Karoo  strata,  375. 

Keration,   334. 

Kimberley,   233,   241. 

Kimberley  Central  Co.,  49. 

Kimberley  Mine,  238,  291. 

Kimberley  Mining  Board,  260. 

Kimberlite,  262,  377. 

Klipdrift,  229. 

Koffyfontein  Mine,  256,  313. 

Koh-i-noor,  The,  63,  70. 

Koh-i-Tur,  The,  65. 

Kollur  mine,  62. 

Krauss  Bros.  Property,  51. 

Krishna,  41,   163. 

Kuara,  334. 

Kurnul,  163. 


Lace  Mine,  255. 
Lake  George  diamonds,  329. 
Large  diamonds,  20. 
Latitude  of  dd.  Mines,  379* 
Lavras  beds,   199. 
Lemoine,  414. 
Leicester  Mine,  265. 
Liebig,  327. 
Lisbon,  118. 


Magic  Powers,  404. 
Mahabharata,  14,  63. 
Main  facets,  120. 
Making  diamonds,   365. 
Mangelin,  65,  335. 
Marquise,  128. 


432 


INDEX 


Maskelyne,  63. 
Matrix,   371,   373,  374. 
Mattam,  The,  82. 
Matto  Grosso,  182. 
Mazarins,  The,  75. 
Medicinal  virtues,  404. 
Meteorites,  225. 
Mexican  diamonds,  220. 
Milliona,  The,  72. 
Minas  Geraes  fields,  177. 
Mines,  Brazil,   177. 
Mines,  India,  159. 
Mining,  Brazil,   179,   186. 
Mining  (early  in  Africa),  231. 
Mirgimola,  62. 
Mogul,  The  Great,  62. 
Moissan,  Prof.,  327. 
Monastery  mine,  256. 
Montrose  Mine,  256. 
Moon  of  the  Mountain,  67. 
Mount  Sinai,  The,  65. 


N 


Nadir  Shah,  42,  67. 

Naifes,  116. 

Nassac,  The,  85. 

New  Driekopjes  Mine,  256. 

New  Randfontein  Reef  Mine,  256. 

New   South  Wales,   210. 

New  Weltevrede  Mine,  255. 

Nerbudda  river,   163. 

Nizam,  The,  83. 

Nyf,  114. 


Off -color,  148. 
Oitava,  186,  322- 
Old  De  Beers  Mine,  238. 
Old  De  Beers  New  rush,  238. 
Orange  Free  State,  31,  230. 
Orange  River  Colony,  272. 
Oriental  Company,  49,  247. 
Orloff,  The,  63,  65. 
Otto's  Kopje  Mine,  313. 
Output  of  African  Mines,  256. 


Painted  diamonds,   145. 
fauna  Mines,  41,  163. 


Pardo  fields,  198. 

Paris,  cutters  of,  118. 

Parisian  diamonds,  329. 

Farteal  Mines,  168. 

Pasha  of  Egypt,  The,  94. 

Paste  diamonds,  329. 

Pavilion,  119. 

Peacock  Throne,  65. 

Peizer  Mine,  255. 

Pendeloque,  128. 

Phoenicians,  41,   159. 

Phosphorescence,   115. 

Piggott,  The,  85. 

Pitt,  The,  45,  71. 

Pliny,  15. 

Pniel,  229. 

Poco,   193. 

Polar  Star,  The,  88. 

Polishing,   124. 

Point  cut,   128. 

Port  Elizabeth,  234. 

Porter  Rhodes,  The,  92. 

Premier  Mine,  56,  251,  300. 

Premiers,    137. 

Price  at  African  Mines,  55. 

Price  at  Bahia  Mines,  186. 

Price  Comparative,  of  rough,  267. 

Price  Comparative  of  cut,  357. 

Prince  Edward  of  York  diamond,  108. 

Production  of  African  Mines,  53,  60. 

Proportion   in  cutting,    121. 

Punna  Mines,  163. 


Queensland,  212. 


Rajah  of  Mattan,  The,  82. 

Ramulkota,   165. 

Kaolconda,  165. 

Rati,  335. 

Red  diamond,  The  Russian,  98. 

Reef,   375. 

Reflections,   158. 

Refraction,   112. 

Regent,  The,  71. 

Regent  of  Portugal,  The,  90,  98. 

Rejections,   152. 

Residue  after  burning,  363. 

Rewah  strata,   169. 


INDEX 


433 


Rhodes,  Cecil,  47,  49. 

Rhodesia,  41,  258,  275. 

Rhurreuk  Singh,  70. 

Rivers,  135. 

Roberts  Victor  Mine,  256,  311. 

Rondelle,  128. 

Rooi-grond,  273. 

Rose-cut,   127. 

Runjeet  Singh,  70. 

Russian  diamonds,  218. 

Ruttee,  335. 


Salobro   Mines,   201. 

Sancy,  The,  76,  78. 

Sawing  diamonds,  125. 

Scepter,  The,  65. 

Schuller  Mine,  256. 

Serpentine  breccia,  377. 

Servicoes,  192. 

Shaffras,  67. 

Shah  Jehan,  62. 

Shahrikh,  70. 

Shah  Shujah,  70. 

Shamir,   16. 

Sharps,   127. 

Shepard's  Stone,  The,  87. 

Shir  Singh,  70. 

Side  facets,  119. 

Sighelmus,   162. 

Sight,  A,  28,  249. 

Silver  Capes,  136. 

Single  cut,  129. 

Size  of  African  Mines,  251. 

Smuggling,  Africa,  242. 

Soul  of  the  diamond,  218. 

Source  of  carbon,   369. 

South  African  production,  53,  256. 

S.  Paolo,   182. 

Splints,  318. 

Standard   Company,   The,   247. 

Star  facets,   120. 

Star  of  South  Africa,  92,  231. 

Star  of  The  South,  91,  181,  194 

Stewart,  The,  92. 

Strass,  330. 

Sumbulpur  Mines,  171. 


IE 

Table,  119. 

Table  cut,  129. 

Taj-e-mah,  The,  87. 

Takt-i-Taus,  65. 

Tasmania,  212. 

Taua,   195. 

Tiffany,  The,  93, 

Total  reflection,  in. 

Transvaal,  31. 

Twentieth  Century  cut,  129. 

U 

United  States  diamonds,  220. 
United  States,  First  Diamond  Found, 


Van  Wyk,  237. 

Venezuela,  220. 

Victoria  Company,  The,  247. 

Victoria,  The,  83,  94. 

Vijayanagar,   164. 

Vikramaditya,  63. 

Vincatee  Chittee,  74. 

Vindyan  Formation,  169,  374. 

Voorspoed  Mine,  256,  312. 

Voorzuigt  farm,  237. 

Volcanic  tuff,  377. 

Wages  of  cutters,  131. 

Wairagahr  Mines,   169. 

Wajrah  Karur,  164. 

Washing,  269. 

Waterboer,  232. 

Weathering,  269. 

Weights,  332. 

Well,  122, 

Wesselton  Mine,  248,  299. 

Wesseltons,   135,  300. 

West  Australia,  212. 

Wet  diggings,  250,  272. 

White  Saxon  Brilliant,  The,  88. 

White  stone  diamonds,  332. 

Wodehouse,  Sir  Philip,  228. 


Yellow  ground,  239,  376. 

Z 

Zaud  Kopje,  274. 


PLATE  I 

1,  2,  Tiffany  diamond,  125  3/8  carats;  3,  the  Pacha  of  Egyot,  40  carats } 
4,  the  Stewart,  rough  288  3/8  carats,  cut  120  carats;  5,  Star  of  South  Africa, 
46  1/2  carats;  6,  7,  8,  Nassac,  recut  78  5/8  carats;  9,  10,  front  and  side  of 
Koh-i-noor  before  recutting;  11,  angle  of  total  reflection;  la  to  \b,  course  of 
a  refracted  and  reflected  ray  through  an  American-cut  brilliant  (la,  entrance; 
\bt  exit);  la  to  2b,  course  of  a  perpendicular  ray  (2a,  entrance;  2£,  exit). 


PLATE  II 

1,  the  Jagersfontein  Excelsior  (rough),  971  3/4  carats;  2,  the  Mattam,  367 
carats;  3,  Florentine,  133  1/8  carats  (Florentine  weight,  139  1/2  carats); 
4,  Victoria  (rough),  457  1/2  carats;  5,  the  Shah,  86  carats;  6,  Great  Diamond 
Table  of  Tavernier,  242  3/16  carats. 


PLATE  III 

1,  2,  the  Imperial  or  Victoria,  rough  4571/2  carats,  cut  180  carats;  3,  the 
Great  Mogul,  188  carats  (variously  estimated,  size  and  weight  uncertain); 
4,  the  OrlorT,  1943/4  carats;  5,  the  Nassac,  89  1/2  carats;  6,  the  Polar  Star, 
40  carats;  7,  the  Eugenie,  51  carats;  8,  Dresden  Brilliant,  761/2  carats; 
9,  the  Piggott,  weight  uncertain,  quoted  as  82  1/4  and  81 1/2,  but  according  to 
Mawe  49  carats. 


PLATE  IV 

1  (front),  2  (back),  3  (side),  Koh-i-noor,  106  1/4  carats;  4  (front),  5  (side), 
the  Regent  or  Pitt,  136  7/8  carats;  6,  Sancy,  53  3/4  carats;  7  (front),  8  (side), 
Star  of  the  South,  125  1/2  carats;  9,  the  "Hope"  Blue  Diamond,  44  3/8 
carats;  10,  Dresden  Green  Brilliant,  40  carats  (some  say  48  1/2  carats,  others 
31  1/4);  11,  the  Cumberland,  32  carats. 


PLATE  V 

1,  2,  3,  old  brilliant  cuttings;  4,  5,  Holland  rose;   6,  Brabant  rose;   7,  rose 
recoup^e;  8,  9,  pendcloque;  10,  11,  12,  twentieth  century  brilliant  (80  facets). 


PLATE  VI 

1,  briolette  brilliant,  88  facets;  2,  marquise  brilliant,  72  facets;  3,  briolette 
brilliant,  48  facets;  4,  marquise  rose,  24  facets;  5,  pendeloque  rose,  24  facets; 
6,  briolette  brilliant,  88  facets;  7  rondejle,  128  facets;  8,  double  rose,  48  facets. 


PLATE  VII 

1,  2,  3,  old  square-cut  brilliant;  4,  5,  6,  old  English  square-cut  brilliant; 
7,  8,  9,  English  round-cut  brilliant;  10,  11,  12,  American-cut  brilliant,  11*, 
table;  11£,  culet;  llr,  star  facets;  11</,  top  and  bottom  main  facets;  11*, 
top  and  bottom  corner  facets. 


PLATE  VIII 


10 


1»  2,  3,  4,  5,  forms  of  diamond  crystals:  1,  octahedron;  2,  dodecahedron j 
3,  six-faced  octahedron;  5,  modification  of  3;  4,  twinned-crystal.  6,  7,  8,  9, 
10,  stages  of  cutting  a  diamond  crystal:  6,  7,  8,  bizel  facets— 6a  table,  6£ 
bevel  or  bezel,  6c  corner  or  hooky;  9,  10,  pavilion  facets — 9a  culet,  9£  pavilion, 
9r  corner  or  hooky  j  11,  shallow  stone  with  elongated  lower  corner  facets. 

H 


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